"The result's on me," says Millington after final day defeat at Wealdstone

The Shaymen ended their league campaign with a whimper, falling 3-0 down in a dreadful first-half before Luca Thomas scored a sensational goal in the second-half.

"The result's on me, I've got to take that one," Millington told the Courier.

"The intention was always going to be that we made the same five substitutes at half-time.

"The method behind the idea was to ensure that lads who needed starts, who needed minutes, got them, but also the lads who've been playing regularly got the opportunity to keep their minutes up.

"I was quite optimistic about the starting 11, I thought their energy and youthfulness would have at least presented some problems for Wealdstone, but unfortunately it was probably too many young players and we looked a bit men v boys.

"Not only physically but also in terms of decision making, so the result's on me because the first-half starting 11, it was probably a mistake playing so many young players all in one team."

Millington made six changes to his side, but none of those auditioning for a start against Oldham in the play-offs next Wednesday produced a performance to stake a claim for a starting spor.

"That was part of it. It's not the same atmosphere as they'll face at Oldham but it's certainly a challenging atmosphere in that there was a lot on it for Wealdstone and I think some of them struggled with that," Millington said.

"There were too many who were lost in the game and had no impact.

"No lack of effort or running, or trying and putting themselves about, but impact in some cases was very, very low, so that's a concern.

"The lads who haven't been getting minutes had the opportunity to step in and try to sway my thinking.

"This was an opportunity for them, which is why I believed we were going to get a much better performance out of the starting 11, because they knew what was at stake and that they had an opportunity to show what they could do in view of the play-offs.

"So it was a shock to ne, amd a disappointment but in hindisght, I've got to take it on the chin that there was a lack of experience in that starting 11 that became really clear as the half wore on.

"Maybe some of the lessons we've learned today, we needed to learn, both as a manager, as a staff and a group of players.

"There are clear lessons going into the biggest game of the season, so it's not a worthless experience but not one we anticipated or we wanted."

Millington added: "We wanted to go over and thank the fans and shake everyone's hand but we were advised to get off the pitch by the police.

"The away following was fantastic today and they deserved a better performance than we gave them, certainly in the first-half, so we wanted to express that gratitude, but we were advised to get off the pitch because it was clear there would be a pitch invasion."

On goalscorer Thomas, who scored from inside his own half, the Town boss said: "I thought Luca played very well. In the dressing room I've highighted one or two areas that he can improve, more to illustrate points for the wider group, things we can do better as a group.

"But he played very well, had a positive impact and scored a fantastic goal."