Ian Evatt was hurt by the loss of two points late on against Cambridge but will rally his troops for a play-off push that’s still in their own hands.
Wanderers were denied a second win of the Easter weekend when Declan John’s first goal of the season was cancelled out by Sam Smith’s injury-time leveller for the U’s.
The 1-1 draw saw Evatt’s men slip a place to sixth in the League One table.
But despite a damaging injury list the Whites are still in there fighting and in control of their own destiny with six games to go.
“It hurts. It’s really disappointing but it’s still very much in our own hands, which is the positive thing,” said the Wanderers’ boss.
“We’ll keep giving it our best shot. There are going to be ups and downs.
“We’ve taken four points from two games this weekend, which most of the time would be pretty positive.
“We’ve still got that game in hand but that only counts if you win it and at the moment we’re just trying to find a way to get results because we’re having to tweak things.
“While it’s still in our own hands we have to take great pride and responsibility to go and get the job done and that starts again at Oxford on Saturday.
“We need to freshen up again and go again. The group is the group at the moment. The injuries are hurting but we’ll try and adapt and overcome as best we can.
“We have to believe we can still do it. It’s in our hands. That’s all that matters at the moment.
“And while it’s in our own hands we just have to keep fighting on and try and get the right results to make sure we get in the play-offs and give the other lads time to hopefully be back before the end of the season.”
Wanderers are without three central defenders in the shape of captain Ricardo Almeida Santos, Eoin Toal and Jack Iredale at a critical stage of the season.
Evatt also felt the need to rotate his starting line-up against Cambridge to prevent other key men from running on empty.
With reinforcements arriving from the bench in an improved second-half performance the ploy looked to have worked with a 13th home win of the season.
But the lack of a second goal and late defensive lapse meant it was one point rather than three in front of an incredible Family Day crowd of over 24,000.
“A great crowd. We’re disappointed we couldn’t get the job done,” added Evatt.
“They made it tough for us. They were very defensive in the first half with very little space and 11 men behind the ball for the majority of the first half.
“We didn’t figure it out and were a bit loose in possession. The second half was a lot better, a lot more positive and we asked them more questions.
“We got ourselves ahead and then we had opportunities to extend the lead.
“We didn’t take them and once the scoreline is only one and they are strong from set-plays and throwing the ball forward, you’re always susceptible to something.
“We decided to make the changes. We trust the squad and some took their chance and some didn’t. That’s the game we’re in.
“If you keep going to the well with the same ones who are carrying niggles then we’re going to lose more players. At the moment we can’t afford to lose anymore, especially important ones like Kyle (Dempsey).
“We should have had enough to beat them today. We were in front in the 95th minute and we have to see the game out. It was a game that was won, we just didn’t see it out.”