Millington admits Shaymen were "nowhere near good enough" in the final third after home defeat to Dorking

Tony Craig's header was enough to earn Dorking the win against a badly out-of-sorts Halifax side, who failed to produce a shot on target in a hugely disappointing second-half display.

"I thought first-half was pretty even, a bit non-descript, and if it wasn't for us getting done on a set-piece, I think we'd have gone in at half-time confident we were going to go on and win the game," Millington told the Courier.

"But we concede a soft goal, we create a few chance, a couple clear-cut, a couple of half chances we don't make the most of, and then you've got the challenge of the home crowd getting anxious and worried and vocal, and the pressure builds.

"I thought the lads responded really well to that in terms of what they did getting into the final third but then we're nowhere near good enough once we are in the final third."

When asked why that was, Millington replied: "I think there's a lack of real hunger and desire to go and put your head where it hurts.

"We've had a large number of attacking corners and free-kicks delivered into the box, we work on them, we've scored off them in previous games this season, but today there just wasn't anywhere near enough hunger and desire to go and finish the deliveries off.

"Is it personnel, is it one or two are a bit comfortable? I don't know, but there's certainly an issue there."

Millington didn't feel the fact Town were playing a team struggling near the bottom of the table, rather than one of the division's big hitters, was a factor.

"I don't think so, I think we find it hard playing at home, I genuinely do," he said.

"We go a goal behind away from home and the fans raise it and lift it, and try and drive the team forward.

"We go a goal behind at home, and it feels like the world's ended, and it clearly hasn't.

"We're ninth in the league, we're three points off third, we've got a good number of players coming back from injuries, some who haven't even figured so far this season like Flo Hoti and Kane Thomson-Sommers, we've Angelo Cappello coming back from international duty, the squad's looking as strong and as healthy as it's ever looked.

"It ain't the end of the world, but as soon as the opposition scores against us, the mood in the ground changes dramatically and it feels like the end of the world.

"I just wish all the fans who follow us away from home would stand together at home and create the same sort of atmosphere."

The Shaymen were a pale imitation of the team that produced superb away wins at Oldham and Rochdale, as they continue to struggle badly at home.

"Maybe one or two are a bit comfortable, maybe they feel they're going to get a start regardless, and they need a shock like this to shock them into action," Millington said.

"That shouldn't be the case, it's highly unprofessional and it's not what we're about.

"We've got a group of lads grafting to keep clean sheets but we ain't going to keep a clean sheet every week, so if we ain't putting the ball in the back of the net then it's going to be a very difficult season.

"I've asked them to have a look in the mirror, to watch the game back and witness the lack of menace when we've got deliveries going into the box.

"It's something that's got to be put right."

Halifax looked like a team that could have been playing all night and wouldn't have scored in the second-half.

"I couldn't agree more," said Millington. "We've had an awful lot of possession, we've had some fantastic territory, you've got Ryan Galvin, Jack Evans, Tylor Golden making runs in behind and balls being threaded in, then when the ball goes in the box we never looked like scoring.

"We had any number of set-pieces delivered into the box and all too often they had a free header to get it clear.

"I'm going to sound like a broken record but a lot of what we do is very good but that final bit, we're really lacking today."

On how that could be fixed and whether tactics or personnel was the issue, Millington said: "The lads we've got have got to show more hunger and desire, I think we can go out into the market and bring in more forwards to give us more threat, but that frustrates me because I want to reward the lads for their hard work by being loyal to them.

"But I've to consider the needs of the club over the needs of the individual players, and at the moment the needs of the club are that we score more goals so if we've got to go into the market to achieve that then I will."

Some of the Halifax fans made their frustrations very clear during the game, with some booing the players off at full-time.

"There's no lack of urgency, if you watch what the players are doing, they're trying to find a pass, to make an incisive run, to deliver a quality ball into the box," Millington said.

"We can shell a 40, 50 yard ball into the box and it just gets headed out, we can do that all afternoon, but that ain't going to achieve what we want it to achieve.

"What they're trying to do is find an opportunity to pass in, to then deliver across the box, and that happened over and over again, but then when the ball goes in the box, there isn't enough menace to get on the end of it.

"The fans' frustration I can relate to because there's not one person here who's more frustrated than me. I live it, I breathe it, it keeps me awake at night.

"Days like this are really, really tough, for me and the staff.

"But I'd also ask them (the fans) to get behind the lads. We go one behind away, at a place like Solihull as an example, and the fans are amazing.

"Even at Boreham Wood, where we lost, the fans were fantastic, trying to encourage the lads on and I think the lads put in a fantastic performance off the back of that, albeit in defeat.

"We talk about the average age and the youthfulness of this group, the way people get on their back as soon as they make a mistake or they go one down ain't going to bring the best out in them.

"We'll go away from home to Chesterfield and Barnet, and we'll certainly play better because we know that people are there supporting us."

When asked why he chose not to start Jack Evans in midfield, and didn't bring on striker Aaron Cosgrave until late in the game, the Town boss said: "We could be here all day talking about the whys and wherefores, I know there's the odd person who's frustrated because they don't hesitate to tell me.

"They've got every right to an opinion, but there's reasons."

On the absence of Andrew Oluwabori, Millington said: "He was ill on Thursday, he came back in yesterday but wasn't 100 per cent. It was too early to get him back involved.

"I think the lads who've missed out today have probably benefited from not being involved.

"With the likes of Cappello and Oluwabori back in the frame, we'll have one or two selection headaches for Tuesday."

The game at Chesterfield on Tuesday could come too soon for midfielders Florent Hoti and Kane Thomson-Sommers though.

"I think it'd probably be risky but we'll assess them again on Monday," Millington said.

On the next game at league leaders Chesterfield, and whether that was the last place he'd want to be playing next, Millington said: "No, we don't worry about going anywhere.

"No fear at all about going to Chesterfield, in fact we relish those opportunities and it tends to bring the best out in us.

"But the focus at the moment is just on reflecting and reviewing what went wrong today and how we fix it.

"We felt we could win and on reflection, we should have won, but we've not done enough to.

"We can't begrudge Dorking the points, they've worked a well-worked set-piece and that's ultimately decided our fate."