Cambridge United boss Garry Monk bemoans ‘critical moments’ going against his side during Sky Bet League One defeat at Mansfield Town
Cambridge United head coach Garry Monk felt that his side’s performance warranted much more than the 2-1 defeat that they suffered at Mansfield on Saturday.
A brace from experienced Mansfield frontman Lee Gregory sandwiched a strike from U’s winger Emmanuel Longelo to earn the home side all three points at Field Mill.
It means that Monk’s side remain winless from seven games in all competitions this term, and the result has also seen the club drop to the bottom of the Sky Bet League One table.
Yet Monk was adamant that his players deserved something from the contest – and was also disappointed to see two penalty appeals waved away.
He said: “The feeling is – out of all the recent run of results – that’s the one we deserved the least.
“We were much more solid defensively, which we’ve been working on. Of course there are moments where you can do better and you’d probably say that after every game, but we gave ourselves a platform in the game defensively.
“We were creative as well – we created a number of opportunities to score goals. It’s just at this time a lot of stuff is going against us.
“We went a goal down but we responded and looked the team in the ascendancy, creating a lot and much more defensively solid.
“But then there’s those critical moments where you need some help. The penalties today, how the penalty decisions have gone against us – for me they’re both blatant penalties. It baffles me how they haven’t been given but you need those moments – they change games.
“I really felt sorry for everyone today because out of the results we’ve had that was the one we deserved the least. We did more than enough in the game to win it.
“You have to stay with the belief. I’ve been in football long enough to those moments don’t last forever.
“I truly believe it will turn for the players and everyone. There wasn’t much more we could do today in terms of an away performance.”
Monk also confirmed that Danny Andrew (groin) and Shayne Lavery (hamstring) will undergo scans in the next 48 hours to determine the extent of the injuries that forced them off the pitch.