"It shows a soft underbelly that we couldn't see it out" - Millington left angry as Shaymen surrender half-time lead in Aldershot defeat

Max Wright's first-half goal put Town in control of the game during an impressive opening 45, but Aldershot fought back to win it as The Shaymen failed to replicate their performance in a dreadful second-half.

"I'm just angry really, it's a game we were comfortable in, we had the lead, we created chances," Millington told the Courier.

"It shows a soft underbelly that we couldn't see it out, really frustrating.

"We looked like a team who didn't have a plan in the second-half and why the lads couldn't stick to what had worked so well for them in the first-half, I don't know, but I'll get to the bottom of it and I'll find out who's able to see a plan through from the first minute to the final minute."

Town looked good in the first-half and deservedly led, but couldn't reproduce that performance in the second-half.

"Likewise, nor did Aldershot," Millington said. "They've had two chances second-half but Sam's goal has hardly been peppered second-half, they've hardly had to work particularly hard for their goals.

"One is a poor choice in going long off a goal kick, booming it long onto a front four that we've got, not one over five foot ten, up against a back three who are six foot four plus. The ball obviously comes back very quickly when you do that and when it does, they get a throw-in, it comes in and they score off that next passage of play.

"It's the result of poor decision-making.

"And then the second goal, we don't squeeze out of our box far enough. The lad's converting it from what looked like about seven or eight yards out, which shouldn't be happening, we're way too deep.

"It's a situation that's avoidable, should have been avoidable and a team with a bit more clarity in terms of their ability to implement, maintain and see through a game plan would have won that game, and that's clearly not been us today."

When asked what questions that raised for him about his side, Millington said: "Well we've changed shape today and there was always going to be a stage in the season when we changed shape.

"But my question is more around who's willing to play within that shape. They're all capable, the reality is are they all willing to do what's required in that shape.

"Special mention for the likes of Luke Summerfield, who I thought was outstanding considering he's been out and not had a great deal of minutes, he really made us tick and did commit to trying to follow a game plan.

"I thought the front four worked incredibly hard and were lively first-half but one or two of them faded too quickly in the second-half.

"But we've got to have 11 men on the pitch at any given time who are willing to commit to playing the way we're designed to play.

"If we do that and we get beat, we take it on the chin but clearly we did it first-half, came in with the lead. Second-half, we came away from it and we were poor."

Millington added: "We've asked them to improve certain areas of their game - controlling possession, progressive passing, getting us up the pitch, and there wasn't enough of that today.

"We did it first-half, controlled possession, made some good forward passes, broke lines, created chances.

"When we did it in the second-half, on the few occasions Sam played out through his back four, we actually ended up in the opposition box, so it shows it works.

"But all too often, we just boomed it long and expected Jamie Cooke and Adan George to go to war with three very big, very capable National League centre-halves and the mind boggles as to why you'd choose to play that way, especially when you're winning.

"Surely at that stage you follow the plan and you control the game by controlling possession, not create a game that results in lots of transitions where the opposition get an opportunity to get a foothold.

"So clearly we require people who are going to follow the plan and have the courage to stick to it."

When asked if Town could only manage halves of football at the moment, after mixed bags against Fylde and Aldershot, Millington said: "I think there are a lot of teams in this division who struggle to put a really solid 90 minute performance together but all we needed to do today was stick to a game plan second-half and I'm very confident we'd have seen the game out and either won it 1-0 or more.

"But when you've got some lads trying to stick to a plan and some lads playing their own game, then it starts to become very difficult."

On whether those at fault would be left out against Solihull on Tuesday, the Town boss said: "Some will get the chance to put it right, some will get the chance to tell me they're happy to commit to what we want to do.

"I'm confident there'll be changes going into Tuesday, so it'll be a mixed approach, but we're not going to sit around waiting for people to get on board.

"If they're not willing or able to do it, and do it quick, then we move on. We've got plenty of players in the squad, we've got the ability to bring more in if we need to.

"We've spent the first-half of the season coaching and teaching, trying to help players understand how to play the way we want to play.

"Now's the time they've got to deliver, and if they can't or they're not willing to then clearly they're not going to be in our thoughts."

Millington felt the switch to a back four worked, at least in the first-half.

"We changed it because we felt we could control possession against their front three," he said.

"We felt they didn't press particularly effectively and clearly, from the goals they've conceded in the last few games, when they decide to drop off they're vulnerable to direct play over the top, so we though being in a back four would help us in that sense.

"And it did, because when we played that way in the first-half we created numerous good chances and on the few occasions we did it in the second-half we ended up in their penalty area or winning set-pieces in the attacking third.

"So it worked in that sense. Whether it's the right way to approach Solihull, we'll see, but part of that is the fact you've got Luke Summerfield in the team so we've got to see if he's going to be available.

"If he is then we may well go with the same sort of option."

On the absences of Rob Harker and Kane Thomson-Sommers, the Halifax manager said: "Thomson-Sommers has a dead leg.

"Whether he'd have made the cut I don't know because he was one of the weaker performers against Wealdstone.

"We need that energy up top that maybe meant Rob wasn't going to be the option for us today but it doesn't mean he won't be involved on Tuesday."