It was a case of lightning striking twice for O’s as they lost to 3-2 to 10-man Rochdale on Saturday and caretaker boss Kevin Nugent was frustrated to see his side ‘absolutely capitulate’ in the second half.

They conceded twice against Colchester United in their last home league game before losing 2-0, and they did exactly the same as Dale came back from 2-1 down to win 3-2 at Brisbane Road.

And Nugent was particularly frustrated that his side had not learnt their lesson from a fortnight ago.

“We seemed to absolutely capitulate,” said Nugent. “It is two goals we really wouldn’t expect to happen and they did. We had enough chances to win the game but it was two poor goals and some poor defending as well.

“We went through the DVD on the Colchester game and we pointed out what we felt was wrong with it.

“We even spoke about it today at half time saying what had happened in that previous home game because one of the goals came from exactly the same situation and we made exactly the same mistake again.

“You can tell people, you can show people and people learn in different ways but unfortunately we switched off and it cost us dearly. On top of that there was a mistake as well so there’s not a lot more you can do.”

The O’s conceded early on for the second game in succession when Matt Done netted the opener after just four minutes

Nugent was reasonably pleased with the response from his players, however, felt bitterly disappointed at his side’s inability to maintain a lead, and also miss a penalty against a side down on numbers following Ashley Eastham’s dismissal.

“We started the game reasonably brightly although we didn’t defend well enough for the first goal, but we got back into it with tremendous spirit so that’s a positive,” he added.

“When you get the penalty and miss it, it is difficult but you go in at half time 2-1 up against 10 men you certainly expect to come out and win it, but the worst case scenario you are picking up a point.”

The result meant the O’s are still winless at home this season, and although it has been a tough few weeks at the club off the pitch, he believes the players on it have to start taking some responsibility.

“Certainly on the pitch there was no-one to blame except the people that were on the pitch and that’s how that it is,” he added.

“I think we do need a little bit of luck. We had lots of chances and things that are going wrong at the moment are lots of little mistakes.

“You would expect them over the season and we are getting them right now so it’s making it difficult to win games at home right now.

“They are a fantastic bunch of players, they are a real good honest group and there is so much disappointment there but you can’t keep saying that. You have to turn chances into goals and then turn those goals into wins.”