Brentford Manager Uwe Rösler said he felt his team deserved a draw against npower League One leaders Tranmere Rovers.
The table toppers won 2-1 at a freezing Griffin Park, scoring twice on the counter attack.
Harlee Dean equalised for Brentford after half time, having conceded the penalty that led to Tranmere’s opener – after Jake Bidwell had missed a header on halfway, but the visitors won it with a second goal midway through the second period.
Uwe, speaking after the match, said his team played well in the second half, albeit not so well in the first, but gave credit to Tranmere for the way they defended.
He said mistakes cost his team but his young players had done so well through the season that the odd error was allowed.
Uwe said he took enough positives from the game to look forward confidently to Brentford’s next match, against Leyton Orient on Tuesday.
“In the first half I thought they successfully denied us playing our passing game,” said Uwe.
“We looked a little bit shaky, the supporters got a bit anxious and so did some of the players.
“In the second half I made a substitution, changed a couple of things and we went on the front foot and put pressure on them.
“They defended well as a unit, all credit to them, and they had pace up front.
“They didn’t cause us too many problems but we made one or two big mistakes.
“When you play top teams, the margins are very thin and today we weren’t good at the simple things.
“We get a lot out of our young players; they are allowed to make mistakes.
“We came back in the second half, we did not hide.
“That makes me optimistic for Tuesday.
“I think a draw would have been a fair result.
“We played against a good team.
“We caused them an enormous amount of problems in the second half.
“On a day like this sometimes you have to accept the margins are against you.”
Uwe said it was important not to be too downbeat after the defeat.
The Bees had not lost in 13 League One games prior to Tranmere’s visit and started the day four points and two places behind the leaders.
“There is no need to drop our heads,” he said.
“We need to be positive and go at Leyton Orient.
“I am pleased we have another game on Tuesday.
“I told the players not to get their heads down.
“They have to do the right things, recover.
“In the beginning we looked a bit leggy, not 100 per cent concentrated when we had the ball.
“The second half was fine by me.”
The match only went ahead after more than 150 turned up at Griffin Park just after 8am to clear snow off the pitch and the stadium concourses.
Uwe said it was unfortunate his players couldn’t get at least a draw from the match and added performances were still the most important thing.
He said his target was to be in the top six at the end of the season and everyone was taking one game at a time, trying to win each one.
“What the supporters did was fantastic,” said Uwe.
“The players are responsible for getting the place buzzing and everyone wanted to get the game on.
“It was a fantastic effort from the supporters.
“I want to thank them and unfortunately we could not get them at least a draw.
“It is important we keep the flame going and the supporters buy in.
“We have to sometimes accept a game like this.
“We tried our best and we raised our standards in the second half.
“We made one or two mistakes and got punished.
“On another day we would not get punished and probably win the game.
“We played a very good side.
“Our supporters should not be disappointed.
“We gave it our all, it was not enough but we are still in the race.
“We should not only look at the top two, or the table at all really.
“We should focus on performance and look at each game.
“We will see where we are when we get to the final five or six games.
“We have to go out to win every game and see where it takes us.”
A full video interview with Uwe Rösler is available here for Bees Player subscribers.