WHILE disappointed with the result, manager Sam Lock said there were plenty of positives to come out of Bracknell Town's 2-0 defeat by Carshalton Athletic in the FA Cup last Saturday, writes Dave Wright.

"We were up against a top side, one of the best in the league above us, but we matched them," he said.

"But we didn't take our chances and two mistakes cost us the game."

The Isthmian League Premier Division side scored a goal in each half to book their place in the second qualifying round, where they will be away to Harrow Borough, who defeated Binfield 5-0 in their tie.

"In terms of what we are trying to do as a club, it is to aspire to be able to match teams like them.

"They have a big budget and we can't compete with them over the players they signed, but on the day I felt we were as good as them," added Lock.

"We played some good stuff, probably as good as they will face in any of their league games."

The manager revealed Town's game plan was to frustrate Carshalton, stay tight, defend correctly and wait for an opportunity.

He continued: "In the first 20 minutes we created two very good chances, getting balls in their box, but we didn't put them away. Then we made one error at the back, we allowed them to get through, a pull-back got a little nick and they had a goal."

That came from Christie Pattison just before the half-hour mark, and it led to a change of tactics for the second half.

"We went out on the attack and took the game to them," said Lock. "For 20 to 25 minutes we looked confident in what we were doing. We were dynamic and moved the ball around well.

"But when you are dominating the game and creating chances, you have to score. If you don't, you get punished – and that's what happened."

In the 73rd minute, keeper Mark Scott was unable to hang on to a shot from Tommy Bradford and before he could recover, Omar Korona fired home the rebound from an angle.

To add to Town's misery, they had defender Dan Bayliss sent off with 10 minutes left after he had pulled back Levi Phillips, who had nipped in between him and Joe Gater and was bearing down on the penalty area.

Lock stated: "I am not sure if it was a red-card offence and will look at the footage to see if it is worth appealing against."

With eight players currently on the sidelines through injury, the Bracknell boss signed Charlie Losasso from Beaconsfield late last week. The midfielder's previous clubs include Reading and AFC Bournemouth.

"He is a top player who can play in a number of positions," commented Lock.

"I see him as something special. He will create and score goals and will really help us as a team.

"As we saw against Carshalton, he picks up little pockets and links up play. We were on the back foot at times, which meant a lot of running for him. He took a whack as well."

Striker Marcus Mealing, who only recently joined the Robins, has left Larges Lane and returned to Southern League club Thame United.

While another signing or two is not totally out of the question, Lock said: "We have great Under 23s and U18s set-ups here and if it means us bringing in one or two youngsters I would have no problem in doing that."

The Bracknell manager is hoping some of his injured players will be fit enough to return in time for their next two fixtures – away to Bedfont Sports on Saturday (3pm) and home to Westfield next Wednesday (7.45pm),

"They are two important games for us and we will approach them professionally and with the mindset of getting all the points," added Lock.