Connacht coach Pat Lam admitted his side paid the price for indiscipline after their agonising Pro12 defeat at at Parc y Scarlets.
Steven Shingler's late penalty snatched a 21-19 victory for Scarlets and sent the hosts back to the summit.
It was the Westerners' fourth league defeat on the bounce, but Lam insisted their luck will change as he praised the attitude and work ethic of his players.
“We are gutted," he said. "It’s another good performance from the boys. We created a lot of good opportunities again – we probably didn't take some of them.
"We gave a few penalties away which were needless and silly. Discipline at this time of the year is crucial as we found out against Ulster and Leinster.
"I'd be more concerned if the effort wasn't quite there. If we continue to concentrate on things we can get better at we will get there. There’s a long way to go."
After Bundee Aki was sin-binned in the ninth minute for an illegal shoulder charge, Eoghan Masterson had a try disallowed when TMO Paul Adams adjudged a knock-on.
It looked a harsh decision but Lam refused to point the finger at the officials.
"We had some hard calls but we just have to live with those. I feel for the guys.
"If we get on the wrong of calls we have no control over it. We spoke at half-time about how we can't be the victims. We needed to go and win the game ourselves and we had enough opportunities to do that and didn't quite get there."
Connacht picked up a losing point but slipped to fourth. They travel to Brive next Saturday for their Challenge Cup clash at Stade Amedee-Domenech.
