"We've gifted them the three points," says Millington after home defeat to Maidenhead

Ashley Nathaniel-George's early goal means it's now just one win in 13 games for Halifax, excluding penalties, as their miserable league campaign continues.

"It should have been a dull 0-0 draw that everybody forgets about that we've managed to lose," Millington told the Courier.

"It actually takes more effort to lose the game than to win it because Maidenhead have had to do nothing to win the game.

"Two shots on target, one of them from outside the area, the other one a counter-attack, which we're well aware of because it's exactly what we showed the lads in the analysis, it's exactly what we prepared them for.

"Someone takes too many touches in midfield, they win it back and drive at the heart of us, we drop off and they stick it in the net.

"What have they done after that? Absolutely nothing.

"We've gifted them the three points."

The Shaymen never looked convincing in their efforts to cancel out Maidenhead's goal and struggled to create clear chances, especially in the second-half.

"Loads of penalty box entries, if you count the amount of times we've had the ball in their box, the amount of dangerous situations we've caused has been a decent number," Millington said.

"But putting the finishing touch to those opportunities is sorely lacking.

"I know the fans are frustrated, disappointed, angry and it's all vented at me, and I take it on my shoulders, it's my fault, it's my team.

"But they can't deny we've had six attackers on the pitch today.

"In the first-half we start with Mani, Milli and Max Wright - they're all attackers, they're not defenders, they're not midfielders, they're attackers.

"Then we change to Rob Harker, Fidel and Jamie Cooke - all attackers, not midfielders, not defenders, they're attackers.

"Yeah we've failed to put the ball in the back of the net, but we've got Angelo Capello, who's an attack-minded wing-back, he ain't a defensive-minded wing-back, and we've failed to put the ball in the back of the net.

"So it ain't for lack of use of our resources, the attacking resources are getting plenty of opportunity.

"But the fact is they're not sticking the ball in the back of the net."

Millington accepts the result is a setback for his side.

"It should have just been a crap 0-0 draw," he said.

"We should all be coming away from it disappointed that it was a non-event and it was a 0-0 draw.

"But all too often this season - Torquay, Yeovil, Scunthorpe - non-events, rubbish games that should peter out, we're on the wrong end of the result.

"It's a setback, clearly."

The result is the latest in a series of setbacks for Town this season, where one step forward has been followed by one step back.

"The cycle is magnified by the fact that, when we have our progress, we're not going on a run of wins so we're not beating Boreham Wood away and Solihull at home, which arguably we should have done.

"Had we won those two games then today's defeat doesn't quite seem like the crisis that it currently seems.

"So as a result of not putting the ball in the back of the net often enough, we now get a 1-0 defeat at home and it feels like crisis again.

"It comes down to not putting the ball in the back of the net."

All three of Millington's changes were straight replacements, with the Town boss opting to not change his formation during the game.

"I don't know how you get three forwards through the middle of the pitch any other way," he said.

"We could go four at the back but then we're adding another defender.

"We had three lads at the back and three lads up-front.

"If people want us to play two up-front we can but that's taking another attacker out of the team, which seems bizarre to me when we're searching for goals.

"So calls for changes of system are absolutely nuts, we've got three attackers on the pitch.

"The only thing we can do is add more attackers but that wouldn't be prudent seeing as though we have a way of conceding even though teams aren't creating loads of chances against us, we still have an ability to concede a goal in a game."

The full-time whistle was greeted with boos by some Town fans, as well as chants of "we want Milly out".

"Not surprised really," Millington said of his reaction to that.

"I know they want to see winning football, they want to see exciting, direct play and we're not offering that up at the moment.

"I think there is a naivety sometimes in the fan base in that the number of times we've made a back pass and people are screaming at the players, when they pass backwards to go out the other side and work the ball up the pitch and then deliver it into the opposition box, it shows a bit of naivety amongst the fan base in terms of their understanding of the game.

"But ultimately they want to see a winning team and we're not a winning team at the moment, we're a team who gets beaten.

"Unless every player's playing at 100 per cent, we're at risk of getting beat."

When asked why that was, Millington said: "Maybe we're not good enough.

"Clearly we're nowhere near what I thought we would be at the beginning of the season.

"I've misjudged the quality of the players we've got in the building."

On whether Town's current malaise was down to the players or the manager, Millington responded: "It's always down to the manager, it's always the manager's fault, ultimately, what goes on during the course of the season.

"But I would say, if you look back to last season, you had Grimsby, terrible run of form, managed to turn it round and get themselves promoted.

"Altrincham, I think they went something like 20, 22 games without a win and managed to turn it round.

"The stability there means they're punching above their weight and doing very well.

"You can look at Stockport's form early part of last season and where they ended up, you can look at Boreham Wood after their FA Cup run last season where they struggled to muster a win.

"It happens in this league, and clearly it's down to the manager.

"But also we've got to find a way to get a group of players out onto the pitch who represent what Halifax Town's about and, at the moment, the players we're putting out there aren't managing to do that."

When asked what the answer to that was, the Town boss said: "The answer is work harder, the answer is give opportunities to players who are going to commit more to the battle.

"And the answer is to keep scouring for players who fit what we want to do, who can fit into our structure."

When asked if he was still the right man for the job, Millington said: "We're in a situation that absolutely requires everybody to stick together and keep pulling in the right direction.

"I think there are a number of factors that have led us to being in this position in the league, and ultimately that's what it's about.

"It's not about anything else other than our league position, and there are a number of factors that have led us here.

"One of those factors that I must take responsibility for is putting faith in the players we send out every week, and at the moment that faith isn't being repaid.

"Ultimately the buck stops with me, but everybody in the squad and in the staff has got to look at themselves and take some measure of responsibility because we shouldn't be losing that game and that can't all be down to the manager.

"Some of that has got to be down to the players."

Town are five points above the relegation zone in the National League, having played two games more.

"It's not where we want to be at all, and not where we should be," Millington said.

"The fact that we've conceded a soft goal today and not taken any of our chances means that we've put ourselves in that position."

On where Town go from here, Millington said: "I've got to go through my processes with the staff and look at who is going to give us absolute commitment to the game-plan from the first minute to the 95th minute, and pick those players.

"Thankfully we've got some of those coming back from injury now.

"All too often we've got a half of football that doesn't reflect what we've practised and what we've set up to do, and then we're left chasing the game.

"So we'll go through our processes, highlight who's not offering us what we're asking for and replace them."

On whether Luke Summerfield and Jamie Cooke could be fit enough to start against Wealdstone on Tuesday, the Town boss said: "I hope so. Cookie getting 45 minutes is a massive bonus for him.

"We'd have liked to have been able to get Summers ten or 15 minutes because it's just a process of trial and error with him to try and build him up.

"But we weren't in a position to take that chance with him, so we'll see how he comes through on Monday."

On Jack Senior's absence, Millington said: "We just made the decision yesterday because he wasn't right, so we decided to go with what we had."

Matty Warburton was out running before kick-off as he nears a return to action.

"At 11 o'clock we discovered that Milli Alli was carrying some sort of food poisoning bug, so there was a chance that Matty might have been bumped up to the bench," Millington said.

"But when Milli arrived we decided to take the risk of starting him, but by half-time he had to come off because he wasn't feeling well.

"Max Wright had a hamstring strain, so they were two unforced changes.

"But they would have still happened at some point in the game."

Alli is expected to be available on Tuesday, but Wright will be assessed on Monday.

Millington said Jordan Slew's absence was due to a selection decision.

Defenders Tom Clarke and Festus Arthur are back running after injury, while Kian Spence remains unavailable.