Alex Revell has called on his players for more after an “unacceptable” 2-0 defeat at home to Leyton Orient.

The Stevenage manager saw his under-pressure squad perform well in the first half but without taking any of the chances that came their way in the League Two match at the Lamex Stadium.

And two goals in four minutes just past the hour, the first scored by Jordan Maguire-Drew and the second from Conor Wilkinson, sent them crashing to a fifth loss in six games, the only exception a draw at Mansfield Town.

The Boro boss said: “We were bright, played some really good football and created some unbelievable chances [in the first half].

“But they were always going to have a spell and when you have those spells against you it is so important to come out of it.

“We wanted them to come through those 10 minutes without a mistake but that’s what happened.

“It is the story of our season.

“As a manager I will accept any criticism but that is not us. We crumbled and gave them chances and that will not happen again.

“If you don’t take your chances, you leave a team in the game and if you then make a mistake you get punished.

“You then have to have something about you to carry on and it is really important that the players go home knowing that was unacceptable and they have to bounce back.”

What makes matters more worrying is that the chances spurned are not a one-off, but have appeared regularly in the last five games, their last goal coming September at Bradford City.

It has seen Stevenage slump down to 20th in the table and they don’t have much time to reflect before their next game, a trip on Tuesday to newly-promoted Harrogate Town.

Revell said: “You have to learn from your mistakes and we’re not learning.

“I asked them to go out with their heart on their sleeve and be on the front foot from the start.

“I wanted them to show people how good they are and they did.

“But the longer it went on you could just see the questions, is it going to happen?

“It was a disappointing 10 minutes.

“We all know the importance of this season and we know that we cannot afford to keep losing games.”