Steve Burr bemoaned a lack of intensity from his Chester FC players after they fell to a 3-2 defeat at Barrow last night.
Having watched his side put in their finest display of the season to beat Wrexham 3-2 on Saturday with a display full of energy and commitment, Burr was disappointed to see his side abandon that approach at Holker Street.
Jordan Chapell and Tom Shaw were both on target for Chester but goals from Andy Haworth, Andy Cook and Niall Cowperthwaite secured the spoils for the Bluebirds to send Burr and his charges home from Cumbria empty handed.
“It's obviously disappointing to lose but there just wasn't quite that extra yard that we got from Saturday's game, which is frustrating,” said Burr.
“You're racking your brains on why that is but that's how we go and we're disappointed to have not got something out of the game.
“I thought Barrow played well and played some good stuff. I thought we played some good stuff ourselves in the first half and got ourselves in front and then we just couldn't hold on to the lead.”
And Burr was unhappy to see defensive mistakes play a part in all of the hosts goals and urged his players to take more responsibility on the pitch.
He said: “It was a great strike for their goal to win the game but we should have dealt with the ball in the box. Somebody miscued a clearance and we didn't clear our lines and they picked it up and the lad's let one fly. It was bad defending from our point of view.
“That is something we have got to work on and do better. It's time responsibility on the pitch was taken on a more regular basis.”
Burr was pleased with the contribution of winger Chapell, who opened the scoring on the half-hour mark and put in one of his best displays since joining from Torquay United during the summer.
"I thought he was outstanding and he ran himself into the ground," said Burr.
"He had a couple of chances, one in particular that he could have done better with, but all-in-all in had a good game."
Chester are back in action on Saturday when they welcome Lincoln City to the Lookers Vauxhall Stadium.
