Both goals came in the first-half with Scott Golbourne netting the first with a low drive and veteran striker Jamie Cureton grabbing number two when he slammed home a loose ball inside the penalty area.
Dickov said: "I was disappointed with my team's performance. We are a good team when we play with high energy and move the ball quickly, but I thought we were a bit lethargic and a little bit sloppy and we possibly took too many touches on the ball.
"As good a side as Exeter are, you can't come to places like this and give teams a two-goal start. They are on a fantastic run at the minute and are a fantastic football team, but two mistakes have cost us.
"I am very disappointed with the nature of the goals we conceded. We work a lot on set plays - defending and attacking them - and we work a lot on organisation. But from our corner, Exeter broke and scored against us. It was a great goal from their point of view, but sloppy from ours.
"It took a rollicking at half-time to get us going, but I spoke to the goalkeeper, Dean Brill, and he said they only had two shots on target. Second half, I thought we were excellent, but it was too late by then."
Source: PA
Source: PA