Torquay United head coach Gary Owers expressed his disappointment with the Gulls’ performance as they fell to a heavy 3-0 home defeat to Dagenham & Redbridge on Saturday.
Two goals from Fejiri Okenabirhie and a third from Craig Robson saw the visitors leave Plainmoor with all three points.
“Not what I expected after three really good results,” Owers told local media after the full-time whistle. “I think we got what we deserved in all fairness. I was pleased to get to half time level.
“I thought we were a little bit fortunate to go in at the break without conceding. A chance to regroup and find a spark from somewhere but we never got going at any stage and the scoreline reflects that.
“The good thing is we’ve got a good chance to rectify that early on Tuesday. That’s a game we probably need to win now and if we can turn the Sutton game into three points then three wins out of four will probably get us on track a little.”
On-loan striker Elliot Romain missed the game as he was ineligible to play against his parent club and Owers was disappointed that no one could come into the side and step up to replace the presence of the Dagenham forward.
“It’s alright saying we missed Elliot [Romain] but it is an opportunity for someone else and we didn’t really carry a threat today at any stage of the game.”
The defeat leaves United eight points off safety with other results going against the Gulls on Saturday. The United boss remains confident but admits that there is now more work that needs to be done.
“Well obviously I think the results have gone against us, so we’ve got more ground to make up. We still believe we can do it, but we can’t afford to have any performances like that.
“My biggest fear came true, three good performances and the one where the fans come with the expectation we never got going.”