SHRIMPS boss Jim Bentley said he was left frustrated by his side’s performance in their 3-1 defeat at Tranmere on Boxing Day.
Bentley was hoping to see his team follow up their fine performance against Cambridge at the weekend with another solid display against their near rivals but was left disappointed by what he saw.
He said: “It was a frustrating day for us all.
“We went there and looked a bit lacklustre from the off and Tranmere made us pay. We talked about being tight at the back and making sure we didn’t concede early like we did at Lincoln a couple of weeks ago but we didn’t do that.
“We looked jittery from the start and we made it easy for them. We didn’t clear our lines like we should and at 2-0 down we had a real uphill battle. It was important then that we went into the break at 2-0 but we conceded another injury time goal to make it 3-0 and that is something we have done far too often this year and something we are not learning from. The opening and closing stages of halves and restarts are vital times in games and we need to be far more switched on than we were on Wednesday.
“We were poor in the defensive box but we were also pretty poor in the offensive box as well and didn’t worry them enough. Again there was some really good football in the middle of the pitch but we didn’t turn that into chances.
“It is frustrating to see such a difference in performance from one game to the next. Against Cambridge we were getting shots off from everywhere and had more shots than anyone else in the Football League that game but then at Tranmere we hardly made Scott Davies work until Jordan Cranston scored an absolute beauty.’’