The Black and Golds were unlucky to lose out to top of the table Dumbarton in a narrow 2-1 defeat on Saturday.
The boss hailed the 90 minutes as an ‘excellent’ performance from his side. But he would like to see them stop conceding early goals which leave the team facing an uphill battle.
Murphy said: “The performance was excellent, I’m just disappointed we conceded early due to a defensive error from one of our players.
“We came back into it, but we didn’t take our chances. There are plenty of positives. A win would have looked a lot better for us in the league.
“The disappointing thing was we conceded in the first four minutes.
“The way we are playing now is positive and pleasing. Dumbarton were lucky to get the win.”
Athletic fared well compared to their last outing at The Rock back in August where they lost 4-0. In that game they also went behind inside five minutes.
Murphy said: “It’s about trying to get through the first 10-15 minutes and get yourself into the game.”
The Galabankies remain third, although they have played more games than the teams around them.
Next up they face second place Stirling Albion who make the trip to Galabank full of confidence after seeing off bottom club Bonnyrigg 2-1 on Tuesday night.
Murphy added: “It is a big game on Saturday against a Stirling side trying to chase down Dumbarton.
“They played on Tuesday night and got a good result. They have only played three times since the start of January and they will come to us full of confidence.
“They have strikers who are scoring goals as well.”
Annan have a couple of injury concerns in their defence ahead of the weekend’s outing, but the manager hopes all players will be fit to play. Meanwhile Steven Swinglehurst has returned to fitness should he be needed to slot into the back line.
Clubs are also still able to sign players on loan during February and with 21 players Athletic have a decent squad going into the final stretch of the season. But it is very much a case of never say never.
Murphy added: “Tam Muir broke his hand and took a bit of a beating on Saturday and Scott Hooper has a niggling hip injury.
“We were looking at maybe a centre back but Tam has done so well there and Swings is back so we maybe don’t need that cover. But I’m always looking.
“At the minute we have 21 signed players available to us. Wullie Gibson has also given us plenty of options.”
