Keith Hill delivered his post-match verdict as Tranmere Rovers suffered a 5-0 defeat versus Exeter City in Sky Bet League Two.
A Ryan Bowman hat-trick and solitary strikes from Matt Jay and Jake Taylor earned the hosts all three points at St James Park on Saturday afternoon.
This result leaves Rovers twelfth in the league table having collected 24 points from 17 matches.
Dissecting a disappointing performance at the full-time whistle, the Tranmere boss said: “I will take full responsibility for the performance. From a footballing perspective, we made too many mistakes against a very good side who knew what they were doing. We didn’t deal with the mistakes we made in possession and I think we’ve got to be a little bit more competitive with our duels. It’s my responsibility to pick the players up and it’s my responsibility to go again. We changed one or two things today and didn’t get the right response.
“We were really punished for the mistakes we made in the first 20 minutes, and a lot of the mistakes we made were when we were in possession. I have seen us be a lot better than that when dealing with the ball and I’m disappointed from that aspect.
“It’s about understanding how we’ve made the mistakes, why we’ve made the mistakes and what the opposition has done to us. You’ve got to give credit to Exeter with the way they’ve executed their game plan, and we didn’t execute ours,” continued Hill.
“The players are pretty low; they’re accepting responsibility and they know it wasn’t good enough. I’ve got to make sure it becomes better.”
The Whites will now look to bounce back on Tuesday when they face Stevenage at Prenton Park.
“We’ve got another game on Tuesday and I’m getting a real understanding of the players and what we can and can’t do,” stressed Hill.
“You want an individual and collective reaction. The players know themselves that we have to be better at the basics and I think that’s what every football team is looking for. It’s not about the system or tactics, it’s about the basic demands: run quicker and harder, pass simple, turnovers, tackles and headers.”