It was a familiar theme and a familiar expression from Martin O'Neill.
"We paid the price for not taking our chances," the Aston Villa manager said after the 1-1 draw against Wigan Athletic yesterday.
Even though the point virtually assures Villa of Premiership football next season, there was no joy in O'Neill's face.
"We should have won this match," he added. "Wigan defended well and did not buckle. All credit to them but we spurned our chances."
Not for the first time this season, Villa were forced to come from behind. Emile Heskey gave Wigan the lead midway through the first half but the visitors went down to ten men when Luis Antonio Valencia was sent off for a wretched challenge on Wilfred Bouma.
Gabriel Agbonlahor equalised for Villa early in the second half and Wigan spent the remainder of the match defending.
"No matter how much possession you have and we had plenty, if you cannot finish you are going to find it a wee bit more difficult," O'Neill said. "I know they had a player sent off, but they defended stoutly.
"We had a few moments after the equaliser. I thought Olof Mellberg's header looked very, very close to being over the line as well and Ashley Young had a header. I thought the goal was going to come, but it didn't.
"If you'd said to me before Easter we'd collect four points, I probably would have taken that but having won so well at Blackburn, a victory today might have moved us into the top ten. That was the disappointment; not converting the chances into goals."
Paul Jewell, the Wigan manager, praised the commitment and desire of his side as they held out for nearly an hour with ten men to claim a point. But Jewell claimed that Villa's equaliser should not have been awarded.
"Villa's goal was offside," Jewell said. "It wasn't even close. The official got the sending-off right, even though the challenge was naive more than dirty."
