Steve Evans was an annoyed and frustrated manager as Stevenage lost away to Barnsley in League One.

They had taken the lead on four minutes through Luther James-Wildin but a first-half equaliser from John McAtee and then a deflected effort 20 minutes from time by Herbie Kane, gave the Tykes a 2-1 success.

And to leave with nothing was the Scot's biggest annoyance.

"It’s very hard to take," said Evans. "We were by far the better side and we missed a good chance, a one on one [through Jordan Roberts] to make it 2-0 but we miss the target. 

"And then we lose out concentration at the back but you have to be fair to them, it is a class finish. 

"I thought we started the second half tremendously, as good as we can play really. 

"It was domination around the box but then there was a nasty challenge on Jordan Roberts and from then on the game changed. 

"The best team lost."

The frustrations were doubled by the fact the South Yorkshire natives were not happy with their own team's performance for large parts of the game, something which Evans duly noted.

He said: "We were brilliant in those opening 20 minutes of the second half, they couldn’t get out. 

"And before they scored the first, the fans are booing them, and that’s not my ears deceiving me. 

"We had a real energy about us on the counter-attack and we should hurt them but we don’t. 

"And we said at the start of the second half that we needed the goal to go back in front because that makes them throw more caution to the wind. 

"And then we got undone by a deflection. 

"I’m not worried about the last five minutes when it's again in basketball because we've thrown Dan Sweeney up front and all-sorts, trying to get a point. 

"But I can tell you that the Barnsley players would not have expected that from us. 

"They think we are little Stevenage, we’re the black sheep of the yard, we’re the little one nobody wants. 

"But we should win."

Attention now turns to Boxing Day and a home clash with Northampton Town, one which Evans knows will be a tough test.

"They have been brilliant recently," he said. "They have won five out of the last seven and turned it round, Jon Brady has some players back. 

"But we’ll freshen it up like we freshened it up [here]. 

"And we got everything right, players can sit in my office if they want but we got the system right, we got the players right and we got the team right. 

"We got everything right and we should do better. 

"If there is a frustration with that second half is when we break three on three or four on four, we don’t create a chance. 

"That’s either [down to] quality or wanting to do your own thing. 

"That’s been consistent though and that’s starting to be annoying."