The harsh reality of football being a cruel mistress was not lost on Stevenage manager Alex Revell after a late defeat at Peterborough United.

Louis Thompson had equalised midway through the second half in the League One clash at London Road but a corner needlessly given away in the final moments of the four added minutes proved crucial.

Boro didn't clear and Kwame Poku guided the loose ball through a crowd of players for a 2-1 Posh win.

It meant the answer to why Stevenage had come away from nothing was an easy one to explain for the Boro boss.

"Because you don't do your job at the end," said Revell. "We didn’t mark players, we didn’t clear the ball properly. If we clear the ball, the referee blows up for full-time. 

"Football's harsh sometimes, it can bite you in the bum, but I thought we were outstanding. 

"We created so many chances and when you don't take them, you leave the opposition with a chance. 

"They have to be converted if you want to win games.

"It’s fine lines and we didn't do well enough at the end, but that doesn't take away from the performance and how well we played."

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They had trailed after five minutes when Donay O'Brien-Brady was given far too much time to turn and shoot from the edge of the box.

But from then they created chance after chance with Jamie Reid, Jake Young and Jordan Roberts all close to equalising.

That left the boss pointing at another lesson to learn.

He said: "We missed chances in the first half, the keeper has pulled of three really good saves but we should be scoring. 

"We did score a fantastic goal and then there was only one team that was going to win, us. 

"But when you don't take the opportunities that you create, it can come back to haunt you. 

"We're disappointed because it's a hard one to take, but when we go back and look at it in the cold light of the day, it's probably the best we've played this season. 

"Some of the football was fantastic and we dominated it. We deserved a lot more."

The defeat could also have come with a bigger cost.

Nathan Thompson limped off after 11 minutes, joining fellow centre-halves Charlie Goode and Dan Sweeney in seemingly long-term injuries.

It leaves Boro with only Carl Piergianni and Lewis Freestone as fit, recognised centre-backs, even if Luther Wildin can fit in there if necessary.

The boss says time will tell how long Thompson will be out for.

He said: "We don't know, but for him to come off, he's obviously struggling and it’s not a good time for a centre-half to get injured. 

"We’ll look at him over the week and see what the damage is. 

"He's come in and played a lot of football in a short space of time so you have to be careful but that’s the way the fixtures lined up."