Uwe Rosler says his side were unlucky not to progress into the semi-finals of the Checkatrade Trophy, after a 3-2 defeat to Yeovil Town on Tuesday night.
A game full of drama was finally settled in the 92nd minute as Francois Zoko fired past Alex Cairns, minutes after Jordy Hiwula had looked like he had taken the tie to penalties.
Town controlled possession for the majority of the game, with Rosler saying the score line did not reflect the game as a whole.
“I only counted two shots that they had and those were the two goals in the second half.
“I thought we were the better side and there’s no question about that.
“In the second half they were just defending and sitting back, and they did not trouble us and we caused ourselves the problem with allowing them the goals.”
Rosler also says that Fleetwood must improve defensively if they are to avoid losing games, as another late strike put Town to the sword.
“Yeovil did what Yeovil did and were very organised in their 4-4-2.
“They punished our mistakes. We scored the first goal and looked nervous after that, especially in defensive positions.
“It’s not the first game we’ve conceded two or three goals. You can’t win football matches conceding goals as simple as that.
“We looked like we liked pain because we are giving ourselves so much at the moment. We need to stop that. I don’t like that pain and we’ve seen that too many times in recent weeks.
“Today was not necessary. They didn’t trouble us and it’s just the way it is”
Despite this, the German is content with his attacking players, but say they must play in unison with the defenders if they are to be successful.
“We might have to change the system again to get more defenders on the pitch.
“That might affect us going forward and scoring goals, but at the moment we aren’t getting it right on either end.
“When we play with three up top we do score more goals but our defensive performances aren’t there.
“If we didn’t concede that own goal I think we go on and win that game.”
As has been so common this season, Rosler’s substitutions made a huge impact on the game. It was Ashley Hunter’s ball that caused havoc for Hiwula’s equaliser, and the German has spoken highly of his second half changes.
“We were the better side and the substitutes did well when they came on.
“Kyle Dempsey and Ashley Hunter did well and along with Harrison Biggins, they helped us a lot.
“I felt we got a grip of the game, Biggins got on the ball more which gave us something else and that saw us have more structure in our play.
“We started playing a majority of the game in their half.”
Positives can be taken from the fact that Hiwula scored his 11th goal of the season on a chilly night in Somerset, and Rosler has praised his player for his performance, and adds that all eyes are firmly fixed on the next game at Rochdale on Saturday.
“When you see his starts and when he has played in competitive matches, he scores goals.
“He’s now on 11 goals and it’s great to see him scoring again.
“There are positives from tonight but when you lose the game like we did, it’s hard to see those at the moment.
“We will get back on the bus and look ahead to the next game.”