"They were better across the board," says Millington after Halifax's play-off defeat

Town were 3-0 down after just 12 minutes and never looked like recovering as they fell at the first hurdle in the play-offs for the second successive season.

"They were much better than us," said the Town boss.

"I can hand on heart say, from the manager down to the last player that came on the pitch, they were better across the board.

"So we've just got to take our medicine, accept the better team won on the night and take some time to reflect."

Millington said Oldham didn't do anything Town hadn't prepared for, but that his side didn't handle them well enough.

"We knew exactly what the patterns would look like, we knew the midfield runners off the forwards, we prepared for the diags, we prepared for how we'd deal with that, we knew what threat they carried off set-pieces," he said.

"And we just didn't cope with it well enough.

"The bit I have to take responsibility for is the fact that we didn't have enough physicality in the starting 11, to cope with it, and the players didn't have enough physicality amongst themselves to be able to deal with it.

"Oldham were better across the board and deservedly won."

When asked if, in hindisght, his team selection was wrong, Millington said: "I've got to go on record as saying I don't think Jack Jenkins and Tom Pugh were necessarily underperforming, and they weren't taken off because they were performing badly as such.

"It's just we needed to get some more height to deal with the set-pieces.

"It's almost an impossible situation because we needed energy to try and get pressure on their back three, to spoil the direct play and try to affect the longer passes, but we also needed height to deal with the set-pieces.

"So, which way do you go? We chose to go for the energy to try and press, and affect their direct play, safe in the knowledge that we thought the back three could cope with the first contacts.

"We hoped having a boxed midfield would help us land on more second balls but it just didn't materialise that way.

"Zak (Emmerson) doesn't press as well as a Luca Thomas, Tom Pugh and Jamie Cooke, but he gave us an extra body in defending set-pieces.

"You fix one problem and it just presents another, and across the board, from me down, we weren't good enough."

The Town boss said he didn't give up hope of a Town comeback after their disastrous start to the tie.

"I'm an idiot aren't I because I still think we're going to win the game (at 3-0 down)," he said.

"You never give up, and even at 4-0 down we're still holding onto that hope that if we get the next goal, we might be able to build a platform from that.

"But the reality is we've just not been good enough, they're a better team, a better squad.

"You need strength-in-depth when you get to these stages of the season and we just don't have that.

"Forest Green, York, Oldham, Rochdale have much better strength-in-depth and we just don't have that."

Millington added: "The one thing that hurt us was the fact that the lads we need to step up and be leaders within the group are still only 23, 24 themselves.

"So it's not so much the 19, 20-year-olds, it's more that we're putting an awful lot of weight and responsibility onto the likes of Flo Hoti and Jamie Cooke, who maybe aren't ready for that level of responsibility and leadership."

On whether Town's injury crisis ultimately proved too costly for their promotion hopes, Millington said: "It definitely played a part in the challenging end to the season, without a doubtr, and those injuries for the most part have come as a result of the pitch.

"It's such a shame that something which should be under our control has resulted in underming our ability to be successful over the course of the season.

"But I was genuine in my belief that I thought we could get enough out of the players we had and I do still believe they're a very talented group of players.

"But they're inexperienced and these games are often decidedon fine margins, and for that to be the case you need to have players who've been through the experience and can manage the game."

There were more than 1,800 Town fans at Boundary Park for the match.

"They've been brilliant, and that makes it more heartbreaking really, that we couldn't put up more of a fight," Millington said.

"They were phenomenal and the reception at the end, it just shows what a great club it is and how the fans will back the lads when they have a go.

"I think the vast majority appreciate that it's certainly not through lack of effort tonight, it's lack of experience, lack of physicality and that's what's cost us."

Read more from the Town boss on the Courier website tomorrow.