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"At 2-1 we had two great chances to go and put the game out of sight," Mackay said when he spoke after the game. "Even at the end when it was 3-2 in the last few minutes we had a couple on their goal line, it just didn't fall for us.
"I've said to the players in there that sometimes you've just got to swallow that and get up and get on with it because there are no hard luck stories.
"I'm very proud of the players, they played like that against Palace and Forest too. Eventually things will fall for you because they're creating chances and they're playing well."
He added: "I thought we were quite solid but we were fluid going forward. Stephen McGinn played in the hole with Troy Deeney on the right hand side just coming inside. I'm also delighted that Don Cowie came through that after being out for a month and it's a great testament to his professionalism and his fitness. I thought he was tremendous.
"We're playing well, we came here against a very experienced team and took the game to them and had vast periods of possession. I thought we cause them a lot of problems today and made them change their shape twice. At the same time we had that threat, but it wasn't to be.
Brian Laws could be forgiven for having a smile on his face after finally nailing down a win and he was full of praise for his players and in particular Ross Wallace who came on as a sub and help transform the game.
"It was like Groundhog Day for a while, especially once we equalised, but I think we deserved the win for the sheer mentality of the players," he said.
"Today was a real test of our character and mental strength. Our performances have been fantastic but the results haven't been great and we've had a bit of a role reversal here today.
"We will certainly play far better and not win. Today was far too scrappy, and credit where credit is due, because the substitutes have changed the game.
"Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, but you couldn't wish for a better impact than Ross's and he did so well coming off the bench. He has had to wait because the team has been doing well.
"It's the hardest thing in the world for a sub to go on into a game that's not flowing very well. It was almost head tennis at times, but once we got the ball down and got it wide we were causing them all sorts of problems. Eventually getting the balls into the box was going to cause problems for them."
Speaking about the change of system, he added: "We were chasing the game so we made changes for the positive and went to a flat 4-4-2 and it worked. The system has been fantastic for us this season and we have played some great stuff, whatever the formation.
"We had to change the formation from a 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2 and it won the game. That has definitely given me food for thought and a lift to know that it will work. People might look back and ask why we didn't do that in previous games, but I felt, even in our last game against Doncaster , that we were playing well enough to win with the system we had.
"The way the game was panning out today, we had to get at them down the sides. The way it was on Tuesday, we had to go through the middle."
Relieved to have got that win, he admitted: "Expectations are great here and that's fine. We put that on ourselves. We expect to do well and we will. It's a long old season and we have gone on a run of games with draws.
"Maybe this is the type of game that will prove a turning point. We needed this win under our belts. We know we need to turn all the draws into wins now, starting at Coventry next week.
"But it's a marathon not a sprint. Some teams have gone off on one, but I'll tell you now, they won't be sprinting all the way. It's impossible. We just have to make sure we stick right in there because I know we have enough in our tank to push on."