Manager Alex Revell was scathing in his assessment of the Stevenage performance in a horrible defeat at Exeter City.

The 2-0 loss at St James Park came courtesy of goals from Ed Francis and Kamari Doyle, but it was the effort as a while that left the boss annoyed.

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READ MORE: Lack of shots adds to disappointing defeat at Exeter - match report

"For the first time this season, we weren't us," he said.

"In the first five minutes of a game, it's really important that you win your first duel, you win your first header and you set the tone for the rest of the game.  

"We lost way too many duels, we let midfielders run past and we didn’t track them, there was no desire to follow them or pass them on. 

"That's not what we're about, so disappointing. 

"After last week we were on a high and the work leading into the game was good. 

"But if you're slightly down on your performance at this level, you get punished." 

The key stat from a Boro was the 10 shots they had, not one of them forcing City keeper Joe Whitworth into a save.

That was on top of poor defending for the two goals.

Revell said: "We pride ourselves on defending set plays and scoring them at the other end. 

"We had plenty of chances to get the ball on their goal in the first half and missed the target. 

"One rolled across the six-yard box and you expect someone to tap it in. 

"We didn't do enough to win any game."

The defeat came at a cost too, defender Charlie Goode limping out of the action just before half-time and departing the venue on crutches and in a protective boot

The boss is keeping his fingers crossed that there is a positive outcome, and it isn't as bad as it looked, but he has other things to focus on for now, one of which is making sure a performance like this doesn't happen again.

That starts with a trip to Wigan Athletic on Tuesday.

He said: "I can't really pinpoint anyone today but we lacked that intensity to win. 

"We need to look back at it, learn the lessons and make sure this doesn't happen again. 

"Good teams bounce back from a loss. 

"We've got good pros, they'll know within themselves if they performed to the levels that are expected. 

"There will be changes for sure on Tuesday. That wasn’t our level and you have to perform to stay in the team, stay in the squad. You need to train at your absolute best.

"But we'll be looking at [Wigan] now and all focus will be on making sure that we go there and and and and get a result."