Exeter boss Gary Caldwell was left ruing a “sloppy first half” as his side were beaten 1-0 by Wanderers at St James Park.

Conor Bradley got the decisive goal, keeping his cool to slot past Jamal Blackman after latching onto Josh Sheehan’s pass.

Caldwell was pleased with his side’s display after the break and felt they just needed a bit of luck to get back on level terms.

The 40-year-old told the club’s YouTube channel: “I thought our response in the second half was outstanding. The players, the energy and desire they showed to get back in the game.

“They couldn’t quite get that final action or attack the scoring zone with enough numbers today and we paid the price for a sloppy first-half performance and a poor goal we gave away.

“Against good teams in this league, we know it is very difficult to chase the game but there was definitely a big reaction second half.”

He added: “(The goal) was disappointing because of the press we’d worked on – we didn’t want the ball to go into their deep midfielder. We didn’t perform that action very well out of possession.

“We opened up the middle of the pitch and we knew that if we did that, we could get punished. That was really disappointing considering we’d worked on it a lot yesterday.

“But the reaction was first-class. They were on the front foot second half. They created opportunities and we just needed that little bit of luck to get back into the game.”

Former Bolton defender Will Aimson had a goal chalked off during the first half after the ball appeared to hit his arm on the way in.

When asked about the decision, Caldwell simply said: “I have not looked at it. There is no point looking at referee’s decisions.”

The result sees Ian Evatt’s men maintain their place in the top six ahead of Monday’s clash with Cambridge at the UniBol.

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