Blues stand in captain Luke Braid has blamed the little errors in their game for the 30-27 loss to the Highlanders in Dunedin.

The Blues four match losing streak looked like it might come to an end early in the match after they took an early lead.

However the Blues allowed their hosts the Highlanders to fight their way back into the match and to take the lead.

The lead changed several times in the match that the Blues could have won or even drawn had they kicked their late penalties instead of going for the try.

"We did well but there were still those little errors creeping in at crucial times," Blues captain Luke Braid said after the match.

"But hats off to the Highlanders," he added.

"They played really clinical and they just finished us off."

Highlanders captain Jamie Mackintosh said in a post match interview that they had to dig deep after they allowed the Blues to build an early lead.

"It was probably exactly the opposite of how we wanted to start," Mackintosh said.

"The Blues have been not far off it all year and we knew if we gave them a start they'd hang in for the whole game."

"We wanted to hold onto the ball but we turned it over and they got a try."

"We knew at that point we were in for a hard night at the office."