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Wanderers cannot use fatigue as an excuse for poor performance against Leyton Orient, says Ian Evatt.
Defeat in East London spelled the end of a four-game winning run in the league for the Whites and was later described by their manager as their worst performance of the season.
It was all a far cry from Tuesday night, where they had matched Premier League Luton Town stride for stride at the Toughsheet Stadium in the FA Cup.
Asked if midweek efforts might have taken the edge of his team, Evatt said: “I don’t think there is the excuse for fatigue.
"We played Tuesday and obviously with the tragic circumstances of last weekend we didn’t play more than 20-25 minutes, so there should be no excuses for that.
“I just don’t think we were ready for this. It is inexplicable, really.”
Wanderers had an excellent chance to open the scoring just before half time when Dion Charles headed against the post from close range, with the goal begging.
Shortly after Dan Agyei put the O’s ahead, Charles had another chance one-on-one with keeper Sol Brynn, only to see his effort saved.
“I don’t think we were ever cut open, what they did was win first contacts and second balls, put pressure on us, played the conditions better. We did the complete opposite,” Evatt said.
“We came here thinking we would play the game at our speed and at our tempo. It just wasn’t to be.
“The most disappointing thing is that we had the best chance of the first half but played like that, got to half time at 0-0 and had the chance to reset and regroup, knowing what it was going to be like. But then the first 10 minutes of the second half was inexplicable and we gave them a goal.
“After that we just couldn’t get an equaliser, we huffed and puffed, they sat in and looked for transitional moments but it was too late. Dion had the best chance again, and missed, and after that we just made really poor decisions.
“As I said in the press earlier in the week we are never going to win every game, we will lose them, but for me the most disappointing thing was the manner of the defeat.”
Wanderers host Cheltenham Town on Tuesday night and though disappointed with their latest outing, Evatt is confident they will bounce back.
“We have no other choice. But we have to focus on ourselves and what we did wrong today, why it went so wrong. We will work hard to be better.
“These players have always responded and I have no doubt they will do that again.
“When you lose games in those circumstances it has to hurt and we are all going to hurt tonight.”
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