Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale saw positives in his side's performance despite being narrowly beaten 1-0 at home to Port Vale at St James Park.
A first-half goal from Tom Pope in the 24th minute was the difference between the two sides as the Grecians battled to get back into the match but were unable to find a way past the visitors.
Following the defeat, Tis said: “I didn’t think we were bad today, but the first goal again is a crucial starting point which made it very difficult for us to get back into and I’d have liked us to have been a bit better at the end.
“The ball went out for a goal-kick, everyone is in place, they kick it long and they’ve got a free player to side foot it into the net."
Blustery conditions meant that the wind had a major effect on the match, but Tis admitted that he couldn’t blame the difficult weather for the result.
He continued: “I certainly don’t want to be drawn into an excuse about the weather. If we are going to be successful then we have to be good in all sorts of conditions. I’m not prepared to accept that conditions were for them and not for us."
With that now back-to-back defeats for the Grecians, following a 4-1 loss to Luton Town in midweek, the City boss is keen for City to put the results behind them and look forward to the rest of the season.
He said: “I’m concerned because I am a professional and I want to do the very best I can every week. I’m not overly concerned for the season, it’s a poor week or two but hopefully it will just be that.
“I’ve been doing this long enough now to know that you’re not going to get everything your own way, and we will have these periods, sometimes playing well and you lose and we’ve had games this season where we haven’t been as good as we were today and we’ve won.
“I don’t want to undervalue the three points today. We wanted it dearly, we didn’t get it, and there’s parts of our game that I will look at.”
Tis also credited a Port Vale side, who have turned their early season form around to record three consecutive victories, as they made it a tough afternoon often denying the likes of Reuben Reid and Jayden Stockley.
He said: “They played well, they played as a team, got the early goal and they held onto it. You keep to basics and you play as a team and they did that really well and well done to them."