Evan Horwood has explained what he thinks are the fine margins between success and failure for him and his Chester FC teammates.
The Blues put in one of their best displays of the season on Saturday at promotion-chasing Dagenham & Redbridge but were undone by two goals in the final five minutes to eventually succumb to a 3-2 defeat at Victoria Road.
Horwood, one of the veterans of a young Blues team at just 30, played on the left hand side of midfield on Saturday and was one of a number of standout performers.
And the former Northampton Town, Grimsby Town and Hartlepool United man says that the naivety that comes with such a young side is one of the reasons that the Blues have failed to kill off some opponents this season but believes that the experience will benefit them moving forward.
“If I am being brutally honest then it is being a bit more of a man and making man decisions,” said Horwood.
“Things like (Ryan) Astles being a bit petty and kicking the ball out when he didn't have to, the little things are the big things. If we win then nothing gets said about that but when you get beat they get mentioned.
Watch: Jon McCarthy speaks after 3-2 loss at Dagenham
“Even (Elliott Durrell) Duzza complaining about stuff all the time to the referee, he doesn't have to, learn from it, it's not a biggie.
“The team spirit is fantastic here, it's just the little man stuff where they need to grow up a bit. It's not big things, they are tiny things.”
Having gone behind at the end of the first half following a Jake Sheppard strike, Chester went 2-1 up inside 15 minutes of the second half after strikes from Luke George and Tom Shaw, but a penalty from Corey Whitely following Johnny Hunt's handball which saw him sent off and a winner in injury time from Harry Maguire-Drew broke Chester hearts.
The defeat left Chester's slim play-off hopes hanging by a thread but Horwood believes the team can take heart from such a performance.
“The performance was brilliant, probably one of the best since I have been here,” said Horwood.
“It's about learning as a group now and trying to take the sting out of a game. That's just football and as long as young keep your own house in order, if you keep doing that then things are going to change round.
“I can't believe we got beat. It's just one of them days.”
