Manuel Pellegrini was frustrated that his West Ham United side let an opportunity pass them by at AFC Bournemouth on Saturday.
The Hammers went into the Vitality Stadium contest knowing victory would take them as high as seventh in the Premier League table, but second half goals from Callum Wilson and Josh King took the points away from them.
West Ham had the chance to strike first when Andy Carroll knocked over the bar from close range, and Bournemouth soon punished them with Wilson’s opener, leaving the boss to reflect on an afternoon where the Hammers lacked bite in the final third.
“Of course we are disappointed about the result,” he said. “It was a very close game in the first 45 minutes, and in the second half we had a clear opportunity to score the first goal.
“We didn’t and then they scored a beautiful goal, but one which had a lot of luck too because the rebound came in exactly the position for their player to shoot.
“We had a reaction, but we couldn’t score and if you can’t score you don’t win the game. We are disappointed about that because this was our opportunity to go to seventh in the table, but football is like that. Maybe sometimes you play games in which you deserve a better result, but you don’t get it.”
The visitors' best chance fell to Carroll, and although he couldn’t take it, Pellegrini backed the No9 to improve week-by-week as his playing time increases.
He continued: “Andy had a very clear chance, but he has had a long time without playing and it is not easy for a player to recover immediately.
“He is working hard and I’m sure that he will improve game-by-game.”
Having failed to build on last weekend’s victory against Arsenal, Pellegrini and his team will now focus on a trip to AFC Wimbledon in the FA Cup next weekend.
He added: “Now we will try to continue in the FA Cup, then after that it’s another away game at Wolverhampton.
“We will go game-by-game and now our mind must be on trying to qualify for the next stage of the FA Cup."