Fairclough takes the blame

9:05pm Saturday 2nd February 2008

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Honest Barnet boss Paul Fairclough admitted he may have been partly responsible for today's 1-0 defeat at home to Morecambe.

He said: "I have stuck to our normal shape (4-5-1) and today it really did look quite negative.

"I am confused and disappointed."

The Bees were not a patch on the side that won at Hereford in midweek, when they again played a 4-5-1 formation.

"It was a case of after the Lord Mayor's show," Fairclough admitted.

"We've done well in January, but this was a disappointing day's work. So many times this season we just can't quite kick on after a good result and this was another chance we didn't take.

"I felt we choked today and maybe I choked as well with my team selection and shape."

Barnet, with just one man up front, lacked a cutting edge and Fairclough admitted Morecambe deserved to win.

However, he felt his side should have been awarded a late penalty, when Josh Wright was brought down in the box, though the midfielder was actually booked for "diving".

"The boy's gone past him and he has been touched."

However, the Bees created very little, the visiting keeper hardly tested.

"It just didn't happen for us today," Fairclough said.

He added that he had a lot of thinking to do over the weekend to decide whether to continue with just one up front for the trip to Rochdale on Tuesday.