A frustrated Sabri Lamouchi fumed at Cardiff City's "stupid mistakes" in the 2-0 defeat to Preston North End.
The Bluebirds gave as good as they got for an hour or so, but one moment changed the course of the game when Tom Cannon got the better of Cedric Kipre for the Lilywhites' first goal, which changed the complexion of the tie.
It felt like a game that was there for the taking but, in truth, City crumbled in the final half an hour of the match, culminating in Jak Alnwick's sending off, with Ched Evans converting from the subsequent free-kick.
All in all, it felt like an opportunity missed for Lamouchi.
"I'm very disappointed, because after the first half we were in the game, we created chances," the manager said post-match. "It's not easy to play here, we know that, but we started well. The second half, even after a few good minutes and [Sory] Kaba's chance, we lost our mind and made stupid mistakes.
"Unfortunately, if you don't absolutely concentrate until the end, it's the Championship. After an hour, we could say a point is fair for both teams - but the game is 90 minutes.
"I was disappointed [about the first goal], just 30 seconds before, [Kipre] was in attack. He wanted to make the difference, to score, but in our situation, we have to stay in our position and not give anything to anyone until the end. We make a few mistakes in the second half and didn't make these mistakes in the first half."
Alnwick's red now means the Bluebirds have, incredibly, had two goalkeepers sent off in their last two matches, with Ryan Allsop having been given his marching orders in the Severnside derby win over Bristol City last week. Fortunately for Cardiff, Allsop is back for the midweek clash with West Brom, but Alnwick failed to really take the chance which had been afforded to him.
"It's unbelievable, two games in a row, two red cards for the goalkeeper," Lamouchi added. "Even that, we can avoid. Put the ball out of play. It was our mistake.
"We need to move on and we have a game in three days at home again. So, we need to think about our mistake and focus on the next one.
"He is very disappointed. But it's not Jak's fault. We gave them the ball from a throw-in, how can we play this ball? How? It's very simple. Put the ball up [the pitch] and out."
There were two notable absentees on the squad list for the defeat at Deepdale, namely captain Joe Ralls and striker Connor Wickham.
On the duo, Lamouchi said: "They were injured for the game. We need absolutely everybody and unfortunately for the last session, Joe and Connor felt something so they couldn't travel with us.
"We play West Brom [on Wednesday] and they are in good form. Cedric will not play the next game, so Joe Ralls and Connor Wickham, who weren't with us today, that's why. We need to be absolutely ready for the next game."
