Halifax Town manager Chris Wilder was not a happy man after seeing his side lose 3-0 to Exeter City this afternoon at the Shay.

Wilder said, "I thought we were awful this afternoon apart from two or three exceptions. Simon Heslop was magnificent, I thought Matt Doughty tried to drive us forward and a couple of others may have come out with credit but the rest were awful.

I thought the opposition was good, we shot ourselves in the foot after two minutes in the first half and the same again in the second half. We have defended absolutely abysmally. I can't have defending like that and I'll have the opportunity in January to change it around. Players can't complain when they get left out after performances like that.

I have said we need to pick results up and we are not that many miles off but looking at today's performance, we are more than a million miles away being a side that wants to progress.

I take responsibility as I put the team out on the park but they have also to take responsibility for their own performance. They have let me down and also the supporters today. I could go on about injuries we have and Exeter being at full strength but mentally, physically we were weak all over the pitch. Okay the conditions were awful but they were there for both sides.

The first goal was always going to be very important and gave them a big lift and they had something to hold onto.

The only complaints I have had was with my team's performance. Some people will say you shouldn't have a go at them in public but what else can I do. I want to give an honest answer to the question, we were absolutely dreadful. I haven't really said that this season. It is absolutely crystal clear we need to change things especially at centre half position. Players have to be big boys and take responsibility, I'll take the full responsibility and they need to give it to me. If the players can't put in a good defensive performance, then I need to do something about it and I will do.

I thought Mackie was excellent for Exeter this afternoon, both their front players were. They dominated my two centres half and their back four was nice and solid.

For the penalty, it was a straight ball through our defence, which was shocking. Maybe Adam could have taken his hands away or stood up longer.

Now you may see why we have dusted Pete Atherton down and we want to get him back out onto the pitch. I have been like that for 14 months now, it's a position we have struggled with and need to get right. It gives you opportunities to win games. We haven't looked like keeping clean sheets in the last 10-15 games and we have had to score to win games. The goal just after half time murdered us with another individual mistake that you can't legislate for.

We have to start producing performances on a consistent basis. We can do it and we have done it but we have to do it more often. I'm working hard to look at new players to see who we can bring in during the transfer window and it doesn't matter whether you're a young kid or 70 for you to see where we need some stability in the side.