Little said he could not condone Wrexham's first half performance at Adams Park – but the Reds' boss was more than pleased with the response from his players after the break.

Wrexham were beaten 2-1 at Adams Park last night in a game of two halves when promotion-chasing Wycombe were gifted two goals following defensive errors in a lacklustre opening half from the Reds.

It was a different story after the break as Wrexham dominated and leading scorer Michael Proctor notched his third goal in three games – the striker now has 11 this season – but the Reds could not find an equaliser.

And Little said rock bottom Wrexham, now six points away from safety following Macclesfield's win at Dagenham and Redbridge, cannot afford to perform like they did in the first half.

"For every bit as good we were in the second half we were probably twice as poor in the first half which is a shame," said Little today.

"It is the first time in a long time that we have been that poor.

"We have had some games where we have not played overly well but we never had a game we could look at and think we could work harder, be brighter and get amongst them.

"The bottom line is we can't afford 45 minutes like that in our position.

"We might have poor performances from time to time but we can't have lacklustre ones. We just weren't there in the first half at all."

Both goals came following poor clearances from goalkeeper Gavin Ward who, ironically, was Wrexham's man of the match in Sunday's 2-0 derby win at Chester City.

"We couldn't give two worse goals away. For all how good Gavin was on Sunday, he made a couple of mistakes," said Little. "He kicked straight to Leon Knight who is the last person you want a one-on-one with on the edge of the box. And then his second kick wasn't a good kick.

"Gavin is a good kicker but in these conditions, perhaps straight out of his hands would be the easier option."

Having seen Jeff Whitley limp off with suspected knee ligament damage and his place taken by Sam Aiston in first half injury time, Little also made two surprise changes at the break.

Centre-backs Richard Hope and Phil Bolland were replaced by Gareth Evans and Neil Taylor so Wrexham reverted from a 3-4-3 to a 4-4-2 system, and Little explained his decision: "Both Richard and Phil had been booked and I just didn't want a sending off, and that gave me licence to try something different," he said.

"I have never been shy of trying something when it isn't going right and it nearly worked."

Wrexham immediately upped the tempo at the start of the second half and Proctor pulled a goal back in the 53rd minute.

With Wrexham on top throughout the half, they created more chances but could not find an equaliser.

"All in all, the second half performance was good and I think we were very unlucky not to get a point in the end," said Little.

"They battered us first half, but in the second, I think we pretty much did the same to them and their goalkeeper has made a couple of really good saves.

"We had enough chances and we certainly had them worried in the second half.

"We are disappointed we have not got a point at least. If we had got a second goal earlier we might have been on the road to winning.

"Second half they were hanging on for dear life so we are not far wrong, but it is disappointing to lose matches based on how we played in the first half.

"But I can't criticise them the way they have gone about it in the second half."

And although not looking for excuses, Little admitted that Wrexham felt the effects of playing just 48 hours after facing Chester.

"Another 24 hours would have been nice to have prepared for the game," added Little. "I am not looking for excuses but I think it is a factor."

See Match report on pages 46 and 47.