Keith Rossiter says Wexford are a work in progress after they paid the price for a tame first-half showing against Kilkenny in Saturday's Allianz Hurling League Division 1A clash.
The Cats were 12 points to the good at the break having overpowered their hosts with a physical, clinical display.
However the Model men - still missing the talismanic Lee Chin - were much better on the turnaround, getting back to within six points before their recovery ran out of steam and Kilkenny went home with a 2-17 to 0-15 win.
Rossiter acknowledged their improvement, but he did not shy away from his team's weaknesses.
"The first 37, 38 minutes, it's not what we're about," he told RTÉ Sport.
"I wouldn't be happy at all. We addressed it at half-time. The lads showed a good bit of fight the second half but at this level you're not going to get away with 38 minutes of hurling.
"We got them back to about seven in the second half and I think we had three or four wides on the trot. In fairness to Kilkenny, they weren't going to let a lead like that slip but our lads kept battling away.
"When you go in and see the stats on the board it'll tell you straight out that the tackle count was disgraceful. It is what it is. Kilkenny came out of the traps good and quick. We probably had two or three scoreable chances just to settle the thing but didn't take them. That's a bit of a trend at the minute that we're just not taking those."
"We are in transition, we are building..." - Wexford manager Keith Rossiter admitted his side were well below par in the first half of their loss to Kilkenny, but he took encouragement from a much-improved second-half showing #RTEgaa I @LawlorDamian pic.twitter.com/svZe6xJF7r
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) February 8, 2025
Wexford were a different animal after Rossiter delivered a few home truths at half-time.
They ruffled Kilkenny feathers with more energy and aggression. Ultimately, profligacy in front of the posts killed any chance of a comeback, but they at least have something to build on following a third league loss in a row.
"I'm happy with the second half. The first one, no," Rossiter added.
"I addressed it at half-time and we'll address it again during the week.
"We need to be patient but what we saw in the first half wasn't good enough. I'll hold my hands up to that, I'll take the blame for that all day, it's just not good enough. We are in transition, we are building, we've a few players to come back but a few of the youngest guys put their hands up.
"Eoin Ryan had a good game, Richie (Lawlor) had a good game, Conor Foley, Cian Molloy came on early for Simon Donohue and settled in really well. Up front, Simon Roche came on and got a point from play. Young Cillian Byrne came in, both lads are in their 20s, so there's positives there for us.
"We'll write those down but I think the negatives outweigh the positives at the minute. It's going to take a bit of time. We've Clare in two weeks time and we'll probably have a different team again, we'll have a couple more lads back. We have to work off the positives and just keep going."
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