Tiernan Lynch at loss to explain flat Derry City display in defeat to Sligo Rovers: ‘Why? I don't have the answer to that'
It was a difficult weekend for Lynch, who watched his players fail to perform as they fell to a first defeat in six League games.
First-half goals from Patrick McClean and Wilson Waweru condemned City to a 2-0 defeat, with both goals coming from poor Derry defending.
'We probably lost the game in the first-half with the goals that we conceded, which has been very unlike us of late,' Lynch reflected afterwards.
'We were very disappointed because we gave ourselves a mountain to climb in the second-half.
'I felt we huffed and puffed a bit more in the second-half, but we didn't work their goalkeeper enough, we didn't work their back-four enough and, ultimately, we got nothing from the game.'
Lynch was unable to put his finger on how his team went from scoring seven goals against Waterford to failing to provide much threat at all against Sligo.
'It's extremely disappointing,' he acknowledged. 'I had been praising the players all week because they were superb in training.
'They worked so hard and there was a real buzz around the place, but we just never got going, and I think the two goals that we conceded were proper sucker punches.
'Why? I don't have the answer to that. We've got to go away and look at this game back, and we have got to look at the areas where we fell short and we have got to look at the areas where we have been doing well and work out why we didn't do them well here.
'Everything we do will always be internal. It's hard to knock the boys and, albeit we're hugely disappointed right now, the last four or five weeks, they have been outstanding and I can't ask for any more of them in terms of their work-rate. But this wasn't good enough from us.
'They know that more than anybody, and there's no one more disappointed than them, so it's important that we dust ourselves off and we go again.'
City are next in action in the FAI Cup as they head to First Division Treaty United on Friday night, the first step on what they hope will end with a third FAI Cup Final appearance in four years.
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