Simon Bassey said that a lack of quality in key areas let Wimbledon down at Peterborough and he was very disappointed by the manner of the winning goal.
Speaking to iFollow after the 1-0 loss at the ABAX Stadium, Simon said: “The effort was there, but I thought our levels were not as high as they were on Saturday. Application-wise, the boys gave everything, but our quality has got to be better. We came away from home and we restricted them early to very little. We managed the game quite well, but we’ve played against Marcus Maddison enough: we let him come back inside, we did not get up to the ball, and it’s a terrible goal from our point of view. It was stuff we talk about all of the time. We let him come back inside and shoot with his left foot. It’s a good finish, but we have to do better.
“In the final third, our quality today was not good enough. We created half a dozen opportunities in the second-half after we opened the game up and made some changes. Kwesi came on, but he felt his hamstring in a different part, so we were playing with 10 for the last 15 minutes after using all of our subs, but we still created situations.”
Having been beaten so many times this season by the odd goal, Simon felt frustrated by this latest defeat.
“The game is about fine details," added Simon. "We went to Doncaster and did quite well, but we switched off and that meant we lost. It’s not good enough. We did all the bits right on Saturday and today we came away from home and for large periods we were all right. We felt we were comfortable in the first-half really. Only in the second-half after they scored, when we had to open up a bit, did they create situations.
“We got down the sides and got into crossing positions, but the quality has to be better. We were crossing into the goalkeeper’s hands and that’s unacceptable. This is a good level, League One. We can’t work that hard, get into those good areas, and kick it into a keeper’s hands, who is 6ft 5 inches. It’s just not acceptable.
“I thought that we were really good on Saturday, so we tried to go with the same, but we did not have enough quality to find our extra man in midfield. We played three v two in midfield, but we didn’t work hard enough to find our spare man. Ultimately, to find your spare man you have to pass the ball well and we didn’t do it with enough conviction.”
Simon confirmed afterwards that Scott Wagstaff missed out due to a hamstring injury, but it is not serious and he is expected to be back for the Emirates FA Cup tie at FC Halifax.