David Moyes expressed his disappointment after his injury-hit Everton side were knocked out of the FA Cup by Sunderland – the Black Cats progressing via a penalty shootout following a 1-1 draw after extra-time.
Enzo Le Fee opened the scoring with a volley on the half-hour mark, before James Garner restored parity from the spot with one minute of normal time remaining.
The tie was to be decided from 12 yards out, with Robin Roefs saving spot-kicks from Garner, Thierno Barry and Beto.
Moyes praised the efforts of his threadbare squad – including debutant Adam Aznou's impact off the bench – but felt the overall performance was not at the required levels that has brought progress in the Premier League.
"[I am] really disappointed just with the finish," Moyes told evertontv.
"I was disappointed with the first half and I am obviously disappointed with the end. I thought the other part of the second half and extra-time, the players did a sterling job to try and keep us in it. We didn’t have many alterations we could make, we were limited. Even making them early was going to be difficult because we didn’t know who else might break down with different situations going on.
"It was a difficult afternoon, but I thought the players got much better in the second half and put on a better show than we have done. Still, nowhere near the levels we were playing at earlier in the season.
“A lot of the players came in and did as best as they could do. There are no complaints. I didn’t think that in the first half, we didn’t do well enough. We were too passive. We didn’t want to allow them any domination of the ball, and we did. We found it difficult. So, getting the message on and trying to change it was not easy at the time. We got after them at half-time and I thought the players did a really good job."
The Blues were dealt a tough hand coming in to the Cup clash as Moyes' list of first-team absentees increased to nine players after Tim Iroebugnam was ruled out of the tie through injury.
The substitutes' bench was littered with Academy talent, with 17-year-old midfielder Malik Olayiwola and forward Braiden Graham watching on from the sidelines.
"We have played well in the early parts of the season," continued Moyes. "We have done a lot of good things, so we have got to try and get back on track. Whilst I have got the injuries, the suspensions, AFCON; some of that is our own doing because of the sending offs. But, the other injuries and the AFCON boys, we can’t do much about."
A positive from the Hill Dickinson Stadium affair was the performance of Adam Aznou – the 19-year-old coming off the bench for his Blues debut with 86 minutes on the clock.
Aznou made an immediate impact, most notably winning a penalty that Garner swiftly dispatched.
Speaking on his impressive cameo, Moyes added: "He is a left-back, he played sort of left-wing for us. He had a couple of wriggles and got himself out of trouble and earned us a penalty. He did really well.
"I am pleased for him because he has not had much opportunity, but we are still waiting on him to develop physically and getting ready for games. I am pleased he has had an impact and he will stick in my mind after today."