‘We deserved to lose’ says apologetic Rose
MACCLESFIELD Town midfielder Michael Rose apologised to the supporters and admits his team deserved to lose after their 2-1 defeat at Maidstone United on Saturday.
Rose was extremely unhappy with his side’s performance after they were knocked out of the FA Cup at the first round stage by their National League opponents.
A number of Macclesfield supporters made the journey to Maidstone for the match, and Rose sympathised with them for having to witness the display.
“Going off the second half performance we deserved to lose. I can only apologise to the fans on behalf of the lads that we didn’t put a performance in,” he said.
“The way the season has gone, if we go down we haven’t got the mentality to get back into the game.
“I understand the fans are frustrated, and I’m frustrated too. We’ve talked about what we can do to be better, but talking isn’t good enough, we need to put it into action.
“In the first half against Maidstone we played well, but we didn’t stand up to the challenge in the second half. We talked about it at half-time and knew they’d come out and get at us and put pressure on us, but we didn’t deal with it.
“We were 1-0 up at half-time and that’s a good position to be in, but I’m sure Kieran O’Hara knows he has to do better for their goal.
“He could have tipped it over the bar or caught it, but he’s tried to clear it and it’s gone in.
“Shortly after they had a goal that didn’t stand, and then for their penality I thought it was a foul for us first, but the referee didn’t give it.
“We’ve then committed a foul and it’s a penalty, there’s nothing we can do about it.”