Djukic disappointment as Britain slump to another defeat

BRITISH handball coach Dragan Djukic struggled to hide his disappointment as a second defeat in 24 hours ended any hopes of qualifying to the 2012 European Handball Championships.

BATTLE: Great Britain's Chris Mohr is muscled out by an Estonian defender during the Euro 2012 handball qualifier in London (Michele Davison)

In truth Estonia were always fancied to beat their hosts at Crystal Palace - and duly emerged 35-26 winners.

Estonian goalkeeper Marius Aleksejev and attacking threat Mait Patrail produced stand-out shows with British playmaker Chris Mohr underlining his promise with an 11-goal haul.

However, after losing to Cyprus the previous night, Djukic admitted his young team's confidence took a battering.

"We're disappointed to lose, but we played well - better than we have before. Estonia are the top team in this group so we knew it would be tough," he said.

"We missed our chance yesterday against Cyprus, and we lacked a bit of self-confidence. But our target has always been to win our first official game, and we will be trying to do that tomorrow against Bulgaria.

"We fought until the last moment today, which is really important. We need more games and more experience and then we will begin to win more games.

"It is a long road in front of us, but every step is important. When you look at our performance in the World Championship in Finland in January, our progress in just a few months is clear."