AFC Fylde manager Dave Challinor believes too many in his side were sub-standard as they were beaten by Dagenham & Redbridge.
The Coasters now trail seventh-placed Dover Athletic by five points with seven games to play but Challinor refused to give up on promotion hopes.
Challinor said: “We were deservedly beaten. I thought we were poor, but that’s taking nothing away from Dagenham who were very good on the day.
“The big difference was that their front line was a real threat and ours was toothless. It was a bit of an off day for the forward players. I could have probably played in goal for them which is not like us.
“It’s disappointing and it leaves us with an uphill task but we have to get over it quickly.
“Unfortunately we have had a lot of players fall below their usual standards on the same day. It’s probably our worst performance of the season but Dagenham were excellent.
“We have one less game to get the wins that we think we will need to get that play-off place but until it’s impossible then we will keep going. There is still plenty up for grabs.
“In the main we have been fairly consistent this season, I can count on one hand the times we haven’t been good enough but this was one of those days.
“We can’t do much about it now, but we have a big weekend ahead with two games where everything can change very quickly so we have to be back at it.”