Wilder apologises to Halifax fans

Halifax Town manager Chris Wilder has issued an apology to the club's fans after his side were humbled at home by Oxford United.

Wilder labeled the abject surrender of his side as 'unacceptable' and admits that seeing them collapse after going 1-0 down was agonising to watch.

So annoyed was the manager that he spent two hours with his team in the changing rooms immediately after the match, no doubt handing out some choice criticism.

"I feel massively let down by my players," Wilder told the Evening Courier when he and the players eventually emerged from the changing room. "And they should feel that they have let everyone down.

"The supporters have every right to vent their frustration at me and the players and we have to take it on the chin.

"In the past when we have been beaten it has been because of a lack of quality, but not through a lack of character or mental toughness.

"I thought we were very, very weak in the second half.

"It affected a lot of players and spread through the team.

"It was quite alarming to go from an excellent first half to the second which was totally unacceptable.

"A few of them crumbled out there and that is not a nice thing to say about them.

"I will shield the players, but there was no hiding place on Saturday - for them or me.

"We have been in games when we have been 2-0 up and the players know that the game is not safe and the opposition has a chance to get back in it.

"But there was no way we were going to get back into that game.

"We could have all gone home with 25 minutes to go and I apologise to the supporters because they deserve better than that."

Town's capitulation was even more baffling if one takes into account the fact that they had comfortably dominated play during the opening period of the match.

"For 30 minutes we were excellent," said Wilder.

"The goalkeeper makes a rash decision, they score from the penalty and it was as if someone had popped the balloon.

"We never looked like getting back into the game.

"Players didn't do the basics. They didn't tackle, they didn't run, they didn't win headers, they didn't pass the ball.

"A lot of players were frightened to get on the ball, frightened to take chances."