Mick Sullivan reckons his Leatherhead side missed a golden opportunity to progress in the FA Cup after the Tanners suffered an agonising 1-0 extra-time defeat to Blue Square South side Lewes on Tuesday night.

Having held the Rooks to a 1-1 draw in the original tie thanks to Dominic O’Shea’s strike, Leatherhead were unable to repeat the magic at Fetcham Grove.

And Sullivan was left to rue the chances his misfiring side wasted at the weekend.

He said: “I know it is a cliche but in cup games you normally only get one bite at the cherry and we did not take it.

“You do not get a second chance, and our chance was definitely Saturday.

“Lewes played a lot better on Tuesday and were deserving winners.

“They showed their class and we could not cope with it.

“But Saturday was totally different - we were the better side and we should have settled it there and then.”

Tanners keeper Craig Bradshaw also saved a penalty as the Ryman Division One South side battled for their lives.

And the Leatherhead boss admitted he has no issues with the way his side are defending.

Sullivan added: “Defensively we are playing pretty well.

“We are looking very solid and it was only really a case of tiredness that cost us.

“But I am concerned with how we are performing going forward.

“The midfield is not functioning as well as I would have hoped, we are not creating enough chances and when we do create those chances we are not taking them.”

Sullivan has drafted in Liam Collins on loan from Kingstonian as he looks to address the creativity issue, with the promise of more new faces to come, maybe even before Saturday’s FA Trophy clash with Ryman Division One North side Thamesmead.

The manager added: “We have the basis of a good side but we could still do with some additions.

“I wanted to get the FA Cup out of the way so we could look at bringing people in, but now we have another cup game.

“But we will give the Thamesmead game our best shot and see where that takes us.”

Leatherhead’s next three matches: Oct 3 Thamesmead (FAT, h), 6 Corinthian Casuals (h), 10 Whitstable Town (a)