NEIL COX confessed that he was ‘embarrassed’ after York City’s 3-2 defeat to Nantwich Town in the Isuzu FA Trophy.

York exited the FA Trophy at the first time of asking to lower league outfit Nantwich, after goals from Ahmed Ali, Paddy Kay and Connor Rankin put the hosts in control, before consolation efforts from Lenell John-Lewis and Zanda Siziba.

Assistant manager Cox admitted that it was an embarrassment for the football club, and berated his players for not proving themselves after they had demanding first-team opportunities behind-the-scenes.

“We’re embarrassed and the players should be embarrassed,” Cox told BBC Radio York.

“The gaffer has given people opportunities today, and we expect them to put a performance in.

“In the first-half we got bullied, we got pushed over, lost all of the second balls and lost everything to them in the first-half.

“We worked hard this week to make sure we got everything organised, but the players didn’t turn up in the first-half.

“We knew it was going to be tough coming to these places, in the first-half we got bullied and take nothing away from them, because I thought that they were excellent.

“We got ourselves back into the game as we should do, but we got bullied all over the pitch and they were the better side.

“We saw too many individuals in the first-half doing what they wanted to do, and in the second half as well to be honest.

“I know we scored two goals in the second-half but it was too late by then, we huffed and puffed but it wasn’t good enough, that’s what we’ve told them.

“It’s a team game and we’re not here for individuals, individuals can knock on the door but we’re here as a team.

“You don’t win and lose things as individuals, you do it as a team, but we didn’t see enough team spirit there or a bonding together, working hard and doing it together.

“Them boys keep knocking on the door begging to play, the gaffer has given them an opportunity as we needed to rest some players due to a few knocks that the lads have been given with us playing week in week out.

“We’ve given them a break, and we believed we have enough out there in that squad to get us into the next round, but they proved us wrong.

“We’ll have to see their reaction, but at the end of the day they keep knocking on our door and saying ‘I should be playing’, but given performances like that they should stop knocking on the door, get on the training pitch and train a little bit harder.

“We’ve got some really good lads who are working hard, and we’ve got some boys at the moment who think they should be playing but don’t deserve to.”

Cox also explained the reasoning behind Olly Dyson and Callum Howe’s absences, with the pair missing from the matchday squad.

“Dyson had a little bit of a thigh strain, Callum has been playing for weeks and weeks so we took him out of it as well.”