Michael Skubala described City's 1-0 loss at Shrewsbury Town as tough to take, as they failed to convert more than 70% of possession.
City were undone by Morgan Feeney's early effort at the Croud Meadow.
Skubala said: "It's a tough one to take and can be difficult when a team sets up with so many players behind the ball and try and catch you in transition.
"We created chances and we had box entries, but we didn't really carve them open with with the intensity which we usually do, so it's a tough one to take.
Skubala paid credit to the home side's game management, but felt his side should have created better chances in their quest to come back.
He said: "I thought we could have threatened more and we could have put more quality in the box than we did.
"You have to move it with a bit of zip to try and break things down and get into pockets of space. We didn't do enough in those fundamentals that would get as a result.
"And then you start slow and they get ahead, that was straight into their gameplan and they were then excellent with their gamecraft."
