Alan Pardew was disappointed to concede a late goal at Brentford but acknowledged that his side did not fully control the game.
A heavy pitch which was cut up in places didn't help matters, but the Saints manager felt that the team had enough quality in it to deal with the conditions and perhaps should have wrapped up the win before the hosts rallied.
"We have a lot of cup games with players coming in and going out so it is difficult, but I don't want to make any excuses here tonight as I feel we have a bit more quality in the side than we showed, and that we didn't get it onto the pitch, albeit that it was a difficult one," he said after the 1-1 draw at Griffin Park.
"We took the lead and then had a fantastic chance mid-way through the second half through Lee Barnard which you would expect him to score as a rule, so therefore they are going to put the pressure on and we are going to have to deal with it. I felt we did that, and then they get a fortunate penalty which I was very unhappy about, Kelvin made a great save and we have to see the game out then. We can't keep conceding these late goals and we should have dealt with the cross.
"The pitch, and you only have to look at it now, made it a war of attrition tonight and it was better suited to Brentford.
"I thought we struggled with 4-4-2 to be honest. It was one of those games where the midfield never really got a grip of the game, and I felt that was the area that we didn't control. I thought the front two in Barnard and Rickie in particular were a real handful, but our midfield didn't give them any quality and we had a lack of energy in there for me tonight and that is something that we need to put right for Saturday."
Attention now switches to the visit of Stockport County on Saturday which the gaffer is confident his side will get a result from if they and the supporters don't get restless.
"It looks like one of those games that everyone will pencil in as a win and that puts a bit more pressure on us, but I hope the crowd and we stay patient, and if we do then I think we will win.
"The ten point deduction was a blow for us, but we have to win games, and win more than we are winning at the moment. It puts a lot of pressure on our home game on Saturday, and we can put a lot of ills right by winning that as the games look a little more friendly than Millwall and Brentford away. The support was brilliant tonight, it's just a shame we couldn't see the game out."
