Craig Braham-Barrett has issued an apology to Cheltenham Town’s supporters after Sunday’s FA Cup defeat by Conference club Dover Athletic.
The attacking left wing-back was the pick of the Robins’ outfield performers, catching the eye of England great Gary Lineker, who was at Whaddon Road to film a BBC documentary.
But Braham-Barrett said Lineker’s complimentary remarks about his display would not stop him having sleepless nights over the disappointment of being knocked out by non-league opposition for the second year in succession.
“It’s always nice when someone like Gary Lineker says positive things about you, but the game will still give me sleepless nights,” Braham-Barrett said.
“It wasn’t a nice result and we need to pick ourselves up quickly, but I have to apologise to the fans because they shouldn’t have to watch that.
“We should be beating teams like Dover, but they did well and I wish them the best of luck in the next round.”
Dover’s winner was scored by their captain Connor Essam in the 83rd minute after Cheltenham failed to deal with a cross into the box.
“One of the boys lost their man in the box, which was disappointing after we’d worked on set pieces all week and we knew that if they were going to score it’d probably be from a set piece,” Braham-Barrett said.
“It went wrong for us in both boxes because we definitely had enough chances to take the lead, but we huffed and puffed and couldn’t find the net.
“Dover came and did what they set out to do, but it wasn’t anywhere near good enough from us.”
Braham-Barrett’s form has been one of the positives for Cheltenham this season and he is convinced that new boss Paul Buckle will turn results around in the coming weeks.
“We are more organised now and the new manager has come in and laid down a few rules,” he said.
“Mark Yates was a good manager, who gave me my chance in the League, but the new manager has taken time out with me after training to work on a few things and I think it’ll pay off for me.
“I am enjoying my football and playing with confidence, but at the moment I am just disappointed with Sunday’s result and looking forward to trying to put it right at Mansfield on Saturday.”
Tickets for Cheltenham’s match at Field Mill are on sale now, with prices reduced to £7 across the board, but they must be purchased in advance and no tickets will be available on the day of the game.
The ticket office will be open from Tuesday to Friday, 10am-4pm.