Scarlets head coach Dwayne Peel admitted the late loss to Connacht was a tough one to take.
Scarlets fought back from an early 14-0 deficit to lead 23-21 going into the final minutes, but a penalty from the boot of centre Cathal Forde with three minutes remaining snatched the points for the Irish province.
Peel said: “It is tough to take, if you look at the first three games, we could have come away with two wins, but for the final two minutes. It was a disappointed changing room as you can imagine.
“We gave them points through individual error and had to fight hard to get back into the game, which we did. I don’t really want to use the word character because when we play here we always want to play with fight and determination, that’s what we are about, we are always going to show that and we have seen that in abundance. There are some moments in the game I thought we were good, we just can’t cough up those points like we did.
“There are moments in games you look back on and say we have got to get better at them, the first try, the yellow card as well which was a tough one. As a collective we showed some real resilience and deserved to win it if I am perfectly honest, but it wasn’ to be.”
Peel added: “I am disappointed for the players because they have put a big shift in here, last week and in Benetton and we haven’t got much to show for it. What I will say is that one of our big things here is to compete and that is what we are doing.”
Asked about the final penalty decision, Peel admitted: “Yes, it was a marginal call, but it is what it is and we can’t change that. We seem to be on the back end of a lot of marginal calls, but there is no point moaning about it.
“We need to make sure we need to nail the moments that are costing us because there are two games that have gone amiss for us now.”
Scarlets are on the road next weekend with the return fixture against Cardiff at the Arms Park.
Peel added: “We owe them one. We will make sure we prepare well and are ready to go again.”