Sutton United boss Paul Doswell admitted his side wasn’t good enough to cause an FA Cup upset at the weekend despite playing against ten men for more than an hour.

Doswell’s boys crashed 2-0 at Hereford United on Saturday to end their cup dream in the first round having seen their plan to contain the Bulls blown out of the window when they conceded inside the first ten minutes.

The hosts, playing with a man short after goalscorer Mathieu Manset was given his marching orders for violent conduct in the 25th minute, added a penalty late in the game for handball against skipper Jason Goodliffe.

But the Gander Green Lane chief, who refused to be too downbeat over the performance, felt the game was never seemed likely to go their way.

“I’m not disappointed at all I think the players gave a great account of themselves as a Ryman Premier Division team, the supporters were brilliant and came along in their numbers and I think overall it’s been a credit to the club,” he said.

“To concede after only five minutes was a bit hard to take, but I thought the boys recovered very well from that and then the sending off gave us a big chance to get back in to the game.

“If we’re being really honest, we weren’t quite good enough to fashion that one outstanding chance that we needed. The second goal was neither here nor there in the end, because by then I don’t think we were going to get the equaliser.

“I tried everything that I could think of to get us back in to it. We gave a great account of ourselves in terms of the passing game we play and the pressure we had, but ultimately we weren’t good enough to make that one clear chance.”

Goodliffe had previously had an unbeaten record at Edgar Street, but his handball in the closing stages helped seal his side’s fate after winger Matt Hann had spurned Sutton’s best chance.

But Doswell, who went under the knife to cure a back problem on Monday, was not in the mood to be critical.

“If you analyse it, I think when the key moments came - whether going through or when the ball fell - we snatched at the opportunities a bit,” he added.

“I don’t think the penalty killed the game. It might have prevented a more exciting last five minutes, but I don’t think by then we were going to make that one golden chance.

“We gave it our best, and sometimes that’s all you can do.”

Bradley Woods-Garness, Billy Chattaway and Billy Dunn were dispatched on loan to Billericay Town, Leyton and Hendon respectively, ahead of Tuesday’s 2-1 League Cup exit at the hands of Horsham.

“Bradley has gone for one month – he needs games as for whatever reason, mainly injuries, his season hasn’t got going yet,” said Doswell.

“Billy Dunn’s gone to Hendon for three months, although we can call him back after 28 days, and I hope he can get himself on the scoresheet and play 90 minutes regularly, because that’s what he needs to further his development.”

Sutton’s next three games: Nov 14 Ashford Town (Middx) (h), 17 Maidstone Utd (a), 21 Bognor Regis Town (h).