Disconsolate Ian Clark trudged away from Nene Park blaming himself for Darlington's defeat, as Quakers yet again failed to take all three points away from home.
The defeat was Darlington's tenth away from home this season and means that Quakers hold the worst away record in the division - having won only once on their travels, that victory being the 2-1 derby win at Hartlepool back in August.
At 1-1 on Saturday, Darlington were the team more likely to take all three points as they dealt with Rushden's attacks without too much trouble and forced plenty of their own opportunities before Onandi Lowe popped-up to snatch the winner 12 minutes from time.
But Clark was very despondent after Saturday's game and felt, despite creating Darlington's goal, he'd let his teammates down with some slack marking which led to Rushden's goal. He said: "I hold my hands up, I should've cleared it, I should've got my head there.
"I should've cleared the corner as it came in but I didn't and I've cost the lads a point.
"We nullified them to a degree and then we should've got something out of the game. If you ask Craig and Gary they'll tell you they've had one of their easier games until the last ten minutes when we were going forward looking for an equaliser.
"It was a good cross for the goal, we've worked on that a lot, trying to get someone in at the near post, but it's unfortunate to give it away like that when we've worked so hard to get something out of the game.
"It's disappointing for the lads when we come away home with nothing, again. We worked hard enough to get a point at least but it was just an unfortunate mistake by myself.
"We're playing well and winning at home, but we're letting ourselves down away from home."
Since arriving from Hartlepool, who Darlington face at Feethams two weeks tomorrow, Clark's flexibility has been maximised as he's been switched between four different positions, including left-back, left-midfield, centre-forward and centre-midfield where he played for a short spell against Lincoln last week.
Following a handful of games upfront in place of injured Danny Mellanby, Mark Sheeran came into the team, which meant a switch back into his more acustomed left-midfield berth, but Clark admits being moved from one position to another isn't ideal. "Of course it's awkward, but I'm a footballer and I know how to play my position," he said. "If I'm told to play I'll just get on with it, I've been playing up front and I think I've been doing well, but Sheeran has been coming on and scoring so you've got to give him his chance.
"In a perfect world I'd like to play in just one position, but in a perfect world we'd want a settled side. It's hard for me to keep changing positions. I had to play left-back at Cheltenham but if I've got a job to do, I'll do it."
Read more about Darlington FC here.
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