Phil Parkinson could not hide his frustration after Altrincham conceded in only the second minute and missed out on a sixth straight National League win in a 1-1 draw with Kidderminster Harriers at The J.Davidson Stadium on Tuesday night.

Alty were caught cold after failing to deal with a long throw into the area, and though Lewis Banks hauled them level with his first goal for the club before half time, they could not take advantage of a string of second-half chances and had to settle for a point.

The Robins are still handily placed in fifth position, going into Saturday’s testing trip to Boundary Park to face Oldham Athletic, but Parkinson was in no doubt it had been two points dropped, rather than one gained.

“I don’t want to be overly critical of the players, because they have given everything and kept going right to the end, but we can’t start games like that,” said the Alty boss.

“It’s a tough one to swallow, because we let ourselves down really badly in the first two minutes. It’s sickening to concede in that manner and it has cost us maximum points, because without that start, we win 1-0.

“Kidderminster are fighting for their lives, but we dominated from minute two or three onwards and really should be winning games like that. The opening two minutes and poor finishing by us in the second half cost us.”

Reflecting on the short journey to a rejuvenated Oldham, and the chance to avenge their 1-0 Emirates FA Cup defeat to the Latics, Parkinson added: “I’m looking forward to it and relishing the challenge.

“Having looked again at the cup tie, I feel we were desperately unlucky to lose. They are a massive club with a big following, but they are not invincible, and if we play to our level, we can take all three points.

“The players are looking forward to it as well, because they are hurting at dropping two points tonight. No one is happy with that, and we want to put it right.”