SOUTHEND United boss Kevin Maher felt his side failed to get the basics rights in a disappointing 2-1 defeat at Woking.

A late goal from substitute Ricky Korboa saw the Shrimpers exit the FA Cup at the fourth qualifying round stage.

And Maher did not hide his disappointment at the final whistle.

“We didn’t play well enough and we didn’t do the basics right,” said Maher.

“The two goals we gave away are really poor.

“The first one it’s a basic set up from a free-kick and we haven’t got the wall right.

“It’s not good enough.”

Blues fought back from conceding Padraig Amond’s free-kick to equalise before the break with Jake Hyde volleying home against his former side.

But the Shrimpers failed to threaten in the second half where Maher thought his players looked nervous.

“We got ourselves back in the game with a good finish from Hydey and second half we were looking to push on a bit,” said Maher.

“But in the second half we looked nervous and agitated in our play.

“We caused our own problems by going backwards too often.

“It’s an easy out to go back to the goalkeeper too often and he was struggling with his kicking a little bit.

“We should have percentages maybe a bit more, played in their half and be a bit more positive.”

Blues will now not be in the first round of the FA Cup for the first time since the 1924/25 season.

And Maher was frustrated with how his side failed to kick on after the break at the Laithwaite Community Stadium.

"We felt like we could go on and take the game to them like we did at our place but we put pressure on ourselves by going backwards too easily to the keeper," said Maher.

"We turned the ball over cheaply too and needed to be better when we had it."

Woking secured the win eight minutes from time with substitute Korboa firing home.

But Maher again stressed that was down to players opting to pass the ball backwards.

"Rather than going back to the keeper I think Kens (Ollie Kensdale) could have played it forward," said the Blues boss.

"It would take us a bit further up the pitch but there’s a free header and we’re stretched as a backline.

"The consequence is we haven’t picked them up in the box."

But Maher's criticisms did not stop there.

He added: "We felt like we went into our shells in the second half. We made too many bad decisions all over the pitch at times and that’s the frustrating thing."

READ MORE

>Match report from Blues' FA Cup defeat at Woking