Coleraine players need to use Linfield defeat as ‘a wake-up call’, says head coach Dean Shiels after Showgrounds loss
Dean Shiels believes the manner in which his side were beaten by Linfield will serve as "a wake-up call" for his fledgling Coleraine team.
The Bannsiders were out-classed and out-performed by the visitors as three first-half goals did the damage at The Showgrounds.
The loss marks a second defeat for Shiels since taking over the reigns and he said it's important his new-look Coleraine side learn the rigours of the Sports Direct Premiership as soon as possible.
He said: "I think we started the game really slow, they gained territory with throw-ins and free-kicks, putting the ball in behind us, turning us and we didn't deal with it.
"Obviously the first goal was really disappointing but there's no panic as we understand that Linfield have big threats and they are going to create chances and score goals.
"I think it's the reaction to that and the big moment came when we hit the post at 2-0 and it would have been fair to go in at 2-1.
"We gave away another goal through an individual error as Linfield made it 3-0.
"That big moment and individual errors have cost us today.
"I thought we didn't handle Joel Cooper who was exceptional and we have to learn and learn quickly.
"We are a young team and we have to learn quickly as that was a bit of a wake-up call for us.”
Coleraine never looked like getting back into the contest after the interval and Shiels remarked how his side weren’t good enough in both boxes as they slipped to 8th in the table.
"I think the players seemed damaged,” he added.
"They were shell-shocked at half-time and we needed to try and calm them down and understand how we wanted to get back into the game.
"It's difficult when you're chasing and we could have exposed ourselves and lost even heavier.
"We had to stop the bleeding but it was an opportunity to try and show some heart and pride to get back into it.
"We did have chances but we were a little powder-puff but we weren't good enough in both boxes and that's just it in a nutshell.”