Aldershot Town manager Scott Davies felt there were plenty of positives to build on after his side lost 1-0 at home to Hartlepool United.

Corey McKeown headed Hartlepool ahead in the second half, although the Shots had the chance to rescue a point when Basil Tuma won a late penalty – but Marcus Dinanga fired his spot kick over the bar.

“I thought for 20 minutes the game didn't settle down and it was helter-skelter with not much quality,” said Davies.

“Then for 25 minutes at the end of the first half I thought Hakeem Sandah started to look really threatening.

“Michee Efete had a really good opportunity and we looked pretty solid – I think Nick Hayes made one save.

“The problem is that half-time came. For ten minutes it was probably quite even and then all of a sudden for ten minutes we got camped in our final third.

“We needed to see out that last phase of play but unfortunately we switched off at the back post and we let a runner come inside.

“You think it's not going to be your day, then Basil wins the penalty after an absolutely outstanding bit of play in terms of his running power.

“Marcus put the penalty over the bar and he's obviously really disappointed. He wanted to score it desperately to get us something from the game and to score in front of the Aldershot fans for the first time this season.

“There's no blame attached – he's been big enough to stand up and take it and it's just a technical issue where he's put it over the bar. I'm sure he'll be on the next one.

“It would have been great to get a point but we have to move on.

“If there's a way to lose a football game, I think that's it. I can't fault any of the non-negotiables in terms of the work-rate, the effort or the desire to defend the box.

“I thought they did it for 99.9 per cent of the time – it's just a lapse of concentration that’s cost us.

“I thought we put in a really good performance. I didn't feel like we were far away. There's a lot of positives to take in what's a negative result.

“The lads are hurting, which is good because it shows they care. We have to roll our sleeves up and move on.”