Tranmere Rovers manager Keith Hill was disappointed as his side’s six-game winning run came to an end following a 1-0 home defeat to Stevenage at Prenton Park in Sky Bet League Two on Tuesday night.
Despite testing visiting goalkeeper David Stockdale twice in the first-half through Danny Lloyd and Ali Crawford, Rovers slipped to defeat when Danny Newton powered a late strike beyond Scott Davies with eight minutes left.
Tranmere dropped out of the top three in the fourth tier and will be aiming for a return to winning ways when they visit Grimsby Town on Saturday.
And Hill gave an honest assessment of the result following the full-time whistle.
Hill said: “We played under difficult conditions and it was more of a scrap and a fight. We would have wanted the conditions to suit how we tried to play but it became evident during the early stages of the game when we were passing the ball.
“It became obvious that it was going to be a battle and in games like that, you want to see it out with a clean sheet, and that’s important, but one mistake has led to the goal and it was one mistake that has cost the players.
“It was an intense game with a lot of clearances. There wasn’t a lot of football played, so we are disappointed that we couldn’t have come out and drawn the game and got a clean sheet, so we are really disappointed because it was the least that we would have deserved.
“It was one of those games where you just have to get through it and hope for a little bit of magic or an opportunity, but I feel as though they turned us better than we turned them.
“On turnovers the ball was very lively, and we would have liked to have played through the full-backs. The pitch was lively, and it was one of those games that would have never been a spectacle, but it could have been a valuable point to take.
“There is disappointment but there are always situations that you have to deal with and they have to be on your terms, and it is how you respond and your actions from now going into Saturday’s game.
“We have to be better concentration-wise in those conditions and the clean sheet is at a premium for dealing with the battle. Every time we tried to play the ball through midfield, it was very difficult.
“It is frustrating for the players, but you have to play the pitch, you have to play the conditions and you have to play through the 46 games and we beat ourselves as we didn’t deal with the conditions.”
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