"I think the players felt they'd done enough" - Halifax boss Millington unhappy with his team's display in draw with Oxford City

Rob Harker put Halifax into a first-half lead that was wiped out by Pierre Fonkeu after the interval.

When asked after the game if he felt it was two points dropped, Millington told the Courier: "Not really because I thought Oxford City finished the stronger so a point's a fair result.

"The performance was a disappointment.

"The signs were there, we raised it at half-time with the lads. I was disappointed with the first-half performance - sloppiness in-front of goal, sloppiness defending our own box.

"We've had the better of play, the better of possession, more chances, but actually it's Sam who's been more threatened than their keeper.

"I think it was fairly even both halves really but we were just very poor in the second-half."

On why that was, Millington said: "At the moment, immediately after the game, I think the players felt they'd done enough in the first-half to win the game.

"I made the point very sternly that they hadn't but I think we dropped into second gear thinking it was going to be an easy game and then it's clear that when you need to click out of second gear and go back up the gears, it's very difficult to do that when the mentality of the group is 'we've done enough'.

"That, for me, is why we've not won the game ad we've allowed Oxford City back into it, and they've got a deserved point."

Millington said he wanted his side to push for a winner, but they lacked the quality to do so.

"We've taken Tylor Golden off to put a forward on, we've put Max Wright into the fray, we've got Luke Summerfield on to try and get hold of the ball and create something for us, because we didn't have a great deal of creativity," he said.

"The mentality in the technical area was to push for the win, we're at home, but there was a real lack of quality, some really wayward deliveries into the box that end up going out for goal kicks, overhit through balls.

"Uncharacteristic, but you've got to question how much the win on Tuesday night has affected the mentality of today's game and my immediate reflections on my performance are 'was it a mistake to roll out the same team?'.

"Often you look at it and if a group of players win a game you want to back them and send them out to win the next one.

"But there was just a slight air of complacency about them today and I didn't like it at all."

The Town boss praised the opposition for an impressive comeback.

"Thankfully we've not got beat and I've got to make the point about Oxford City that they're a better team than results suggest," he said.

"They should have got something against Chesterfield, and they played very well against Rochdale as well. They'll pick up points along the way.

"There's a feeling amongst our staff that they'll grow into the season and do quite well for a newly-promoted team.

"But at home we've got to be looking to win these games, we've got to be better, we've got to impose ourselves more.

"We cannot afford to be complacent at any moment."

Jamie Cooke and Tylor Golden were both taken off during the game.

"I'm not going to go into the details of why because that's between me and the players, but as a team we felt that certain partnerships could create more for us with those players coming off the bench," Millington said.

"Summers was an opportunity for us to do that as well, to just get him on the ball high up the pitch and use his passing ability to try and help us stay in and create opportunities in their half.

"The changes were positive and with the intention of trying to win the game."

No change of system when Cosgrave came on

"We did have two up top. Aaron's a striker and he was playing alongside Rob Harker."

The result leaves Town eighth in the table, with seven points from their first four games.

"In terms of our points tally and results so far we're not down on it, but it's about performance for me," Millington said.

"If we win 5-0 and play crap, I'll be incredibly annoyed. If we play fantastically well and get beat 5-0 then I'll be less annoyed because ultimately, if you perform well consistently, you're going to win more games than you don't.

"But today we didn't perform well.

"Oxford looked to play more direct second-half, they tweaked it because we had control of the game, they looked a threat in the space in-behind more.

"But we didn't play well, so that's the frustration and the disappointment. We've got to be better."

On the absence of Milli Alli, who has a groin injury, the Town boss said: "We'll see how he is on Friday but this next weekend might be a bit too soon for him."

Millington refuted rumours that a move to the Football League was in the offing for the Town man.

"No, that's absolute nonsense," he said.

"Nobody's approached us, and I wouldn't leave a player out of the team because there was interest.

"Anyone who is contracted to Halifax Town would be expected to do their job, so they can rest assured that whether there was interest or not, if he was fit and playing well, he'd be in the team."

Millington also said Town are close to sealing two new signings.

"We'll hopefully have a couple within the next couple of days to bolster the squad," he said.

"They may be players who need a loan spell initially to get up to speed.

"But we'll probably announce a couple in the next couple of days."