Worcestershire First Team Coach Alex Gidman felt it was a case of missed opportunities during the Specsavers County Championship match with Derbyshire at Kidderminster.
The County went down by 82 runs despite a splendid maiden Championship century from Callum Ferguson and resilient batting from the lower order.
There were platforms in the game when Worcestershire had the chance to seize control but ultimately Derbyshire came out on top after setting a 373 target.
Alex Gidman said: “What is my over-riding emotion? A mix of two or three if I’m being honest. Ultimately missed opportunities throughout the game.
“We took advantage of bowler friendly conditions on the first morning and bowled Derbyshire out very cheaply and then missed an opportunity to get some sort of lead.
“I didn’t think all of a sudden it was 250-300 wicket in the space of a couple of hours but I believe we had the skill set to get some sort of lead which could have had a bigger impact later in the game.
“Similarly on the third morning, having taken two early wickets, we let that opportunity slip as well.
“I think on the whole a little bit of frustration with getting ourselves in positions to control and try and win the game and we are just letting those opportunities slip.
“When Callum (Ferguson) and Ben (Cox) were in, we were certainly in with a chance and from the position we were in at 48-5, that was a great effort to get up that close.
“It is very tough and very rare that you are going to get 300 runs for the final five wickets on a fourth day wicket.
“The fact those guys got us close shows the determination and spirit within the group. We are just not quite backing it up with enough skill over a long period of time which is ultimately what we need to do.
“We’ve got to find ways of spending more time at the crease in general to be honest. We will continue to work extremely hard and trust the players that they will turn it around.
“I believe we’ve got a group of players who are more than capable of winning four-day games of cricket. We did that earlier in the season.”
Only a handful of points separate most of the teams in Division Two.
Gidman said: “There is a huge amount of cricket to be played. The beauty of the division this year is that it is very competitive so it is very tight and we’ve still played one game less than a lot of teams.
“We are genuinely one win away from being right back in the mix.
“It is generally a result wicket at Durham so we’ve got to approach that game with excitement and take the positive view of going there and winning and getting back in the mix.”
