“You can take getting beaten but the manner of the defeat was unacceptable really,” Higgins fumed
Ruaidhri Higgins says he will see what his Coleraine side are made of after surrendering their lead at the top of the Sports Direct Premiership table. The Bannsiders dropped down to second after Larne deservedly collected all three points on Tuesday in a 2-1 success at The Showgrounds to take pole position themselves.
Leroy Millar and Sean Graham grabbed the goals for the Inver Reds in a devastating four-minute spell at the end of the first half, and despite Matthew Shevlin pulling a goal back in second half stoppage time, Coleraine slumped to back-to-back defeats.
“You can take getting beaten but the manner of the defeat was unacceptable really,” Higgins fumed. “There is collective responsibility there as we’re all responsible for it.
“We weren’t good in the first half but we’ve conceded in the 43rd and a minute into injury-time at the end of the first half.
“When you’re not playing well just get in at half-time 0-0, defend your box, stop crosses, get in and regroup – but we’ve done real damage to ourselves and then it’s a massive uphill battle.
“I think they did a number on us, they came, sat in and countered on us. We were just weak in certain periods of the game which is extremely disappointing.
“It’s an unacceptable performance and we’re all culpable.”
Alluding to the fact that the “honeymoon period is over” for everyone involved, Higgins also said his squad need to stop falling behind in games as they face Crusaders away from home on Saturday.
Before Tuesday night’s defeat, the Bannsiders had scraped a 1-1 draw with Linfield then lost out 1-0 to Cliftonville, meaning that if the Blues and Glentoran win their games in hand, Higgins will see his team drop to fourth in the table.
He stated: “We have to step up, all of us.
“We’ll see in the coming days what we’re made of really.
“It’s important that we respond in the right manner to a bad four days and get back on the horse again.
“I hope we do it in the right manner, I demand that we respond in the right manner and get back on the horse and back to winning football matches.
“We’re going behind in games far too often, giving ourselves far too much work to do and that habit needs to stop.”
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