Cowan tells Brackley players it's time to 'stand up and be counted' after Morecambe loss
Boss Gavin Cowan has told his Brackley Town players it is time to 'stand up and be counted' after they suffered a damaging 2-0 defeat at home to Morecambe on Sunday.
George Thomas netted a goal in each half to win it for the visitors, with the Saints guilty of wasting a string of chances and some sloppy defending.
The loss sees Brackley, who host high-flying Forest Green Rovers on Boxing Day (ko 3pm), stay one place outside the relegation zone, but Morecambe have now moved level with them on points.
"It is tough to do an interview off the back of that game," Cowan told @BrackleyTownFC. "What I don't want to do is stand here and talk about the amount of chances we had and were found wanting, and our own mistakes that again find us wanting.
"I don't want to talk about really good individual performances, a good collective performance, because I know we have got get results.
"The performance may have warranted a good result, it wasn't to be and it felt like the world was against us a little bit, but we have to take responsibility.
"We have it written on the board in the chaning room, 'dominate the big moments', and we didn't do that.
"The performance between the boxes was really good and I probably wouldn't change anything there or do anything different, but then we fail in the big moments and at the end of the day that is on me.
"Mentality makes up a lot of what it takes be good enough at this level, we have to have composure in front of goal, and then have that concentration and focus to be able to clear our lines.
"You can't fault the players for their effort or endeavour, but we are not here to string together lovely performances, we are here to string together results.
"We have some tough fixtures coming up, and we have to stand up and be counted."
After Friday's clash with Robbie Savage's Forest Green, Brackley go to Boston United next Tuesday (Dec 30).