TNS boss 'bitterly disappointed' after Conference League setback
The New Saints boss Craig Harrison expressed “bitter disappointment” at their 1-0 first league defeat to Differdange 03 in the Conference League second qualifying round.
Wednesday’s loss at Park Hall has left Harrison’s men with it all to do in next week’s return leg against the Luxembourg champions, while their night was made worse when right-back Harvey Godsmark-Ford was taken to hospital with a suspected broken ankle.
Artur Arbeu netted the only goal of the match for the visitors seven minutes before half-time and despite dominating possession, Saints struggled to create chances and have now failed to score in four consecutive home matches.
Harrison said: "I'm bitterly disappointed. The performance was OK but really no better than that.
“I need to look at the game back, look at it in a bit more detail and depth and see what we need to do and what we need to do better.
“The goal was a mistake by us. We didn’t cover ourselves in glory but it was probably the one and only time we have had a mix-up at the back.
“It was disappointing because apart from that they weren’t too much of a threat.
“We are really disappointed, myself, the staff and players. We just need to make sure we are positive moving forward.”
Saints made history last year when they became the first Cymru Premier side to ever qualify for the group stage of European competition.
But having last week exited the Champions League, their hopes of repeating the feat this year are already at serious risk after this defeat.
The one consolation was it could have been worse, with Sair Hadji missing the chance to double Differdange’s advantage in the final stages.
Godsmark-Ford, meanwhile, became the club’s latest right-back to suffer injury this season.
Harrison said: “It’s a suspected fracture. He has gone to hospital and we will get an X-Ray and see how he is but it was a bit of a nightmare.
“That is four or five injuries we have had in the right-back position now. No-one will want to play there.
"We didn't create as many chances as we'd have liked to in the final third. Looking through the stats we had 73 per cent possession of the ball – but it doesn't mean a lot if you can't score a goal and that's the disappointing part.
"We need to convert that dominance and possession and the amount of ball we had to actual winning games and scoring goals."
