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George Elokobi felt Maidstone looked flat in their 2-0 home defeat by relegation battlers Aveley on Tuesday night.
Boss Elokobi wanted a reaction after a poor performance in a 1-0 loss at Slough at the weekend.
But they conceded two bad goals in the space of two minutes, early in the first half, and couldn’t find a way back.
The Stones are sixth in National League South following back-to-back defeats, seven points behind leaders Dorking.
“It was disappointing but credit to Aveley,” said boss Elokobi.
“They came here with a game plan, they scored two goals from restarts and we couldn’t defend them, just like we couldn’t on Saturday.
“Credit to them, they’re fighting for points but it was a chance for us to react from Saturday’s defeat and we couldn’t do that.
“We looked flat, we looked like we lacked energy in the first half and we lacked imagination and creativity and we have to be honest about that.
“I have to look at myself first, did I pick the right personnel to start the game?
“When players have done well, am I rewarding them too early?
“I have to look at it as a manager.
“I make no excuses, we have to react and look at the dynamics of the team because we’ve gone from creating chances and in the last three games we’ve not quite done that.
“There’s not enough movement, there’s not enough creativity and if we do, there aren’t enough movements in the box or runs in the box to try and get a goal.
“You can’t deny Aveley deserved the win.”
Elokobi felt he had picked the right starting line-up but with his side not functioning, he made a triple change at the break.
They improved in the second half but didn’t look like scoring.
“My gut instinct is I selected the right team, based on what we’ve seen in the last couple of games,” said Elokobi.
“I had to look at the personnel available to us.
“It’s important we don’t get disheartened.
“Yes, we are disappointed with the first-half performance but in the second half we got on, we were a little bit more on the front foot.
“We created half-chances, not clear-cut, but hopefully that will give us a bit more confidence if there was anything to take out of the game, going into Saturday.”
Maidstone lost defender Temi Eweka midway through the second half following a clash of heads in the Aveley box.
He was stretchered off after a lengthy delay and appears to be a doubt for the trip to Hemel Hempstead this Saturday (3pm).
“The medical team is looking after him,” said Elokobi, shortly after full-time.
“I went in and saw him after the game, he wasn’t looking too great but he’s in good hands.
“The club doctor is there, Paul Smith, the physio, is there, so they will make the right decision.
“It must be clash of heads, so I hope he’s going to be all right.
“We have to make sure he’s right.
“His health is the most important thing to us.”
