"We are bitterly disappointed in the dressing room at the way the result went - particularly the manner of the two goals, which were slightly fortunate for them," said Thatcher.
"We were left ruing the three or four decent chances that we created. We didn't have the rub of the green in front of goal. For a long time it was a very even contest.
"The plan was to play Antoine (Sibierski) in the hole behind Robbie (Fowler) and it worked quite well in the first half in particular, when it stifled them a little bit. They didn't create much in the first half and Steve McManaman has probably had the best chance for us at the near post.
"Once the first goal went in it deflated us a little bit, and the second one killed the game."