Declan Caddell insists Crusaders 'have no time to feel sorry for ourselves' while calling for Coleraine reaction
Crusaders manager Declan Caddell insists his side “have no time to feel sorry for ourselves” with a midweek defeat to Linfield now followed up by Saturday’s visit of high-flying Coleraine.
The Crues’ three-game unbeaten Premiership run was ended at Windsor Park as Chris McKee struck on the stroke of half-time for the reigning champions to seal a narrow 1-0 triumph.
It doesn’t get any easier for the Seaview outfit with Coleraine, who currently sit second, making a weekend trip to North Belfast on the back of their own defeat – a 2-1 loss to new table-toppers Larne.
Coleraine produced one of the standout Irish League performances of the season against Crusaders in September, running out 4-0 victors after a Joel Cooper brace was followed up by strikes from Matthew Shevlin and Declan McManus.
Caddell labelled the display as the “best I've seen from an Irish League club in a long time”, but he has called on his side to show a response.
"Coleraine came to Seaview last time and turned it on,” he told the club’s media channel. “I was quite vocal about the performance against us, I thought it was exceptional, so I want a response from the boys from last time because we were absolutely miles off it.
"We haven't got a lot of time (to analyse games). Being full-time and having the boys in every day would give you the opportunity do it, but unfortunately we don't. The full focus now is on Coleraine.
"We'll have a debrief on Thursday night, but we have to move on and come up with a game plan. This is sometimes the problem with three games in a week, it's difficult for that routine in terms of game prep and moving forward.
"We weren't at our best (against Linfield) but we have no time to feel sorry for ourselves because Coleraine come to Seaview on Saturday after two defeats - Ruaidhri (Higgins) will be looking for a response from his players too. We're in for a tough game."
Only opponents Coleraine (35) and Larne (28) have scored more top-flight goals than Crusaders (24) this term, but their progression up the Premiership table has been halted by a leaky defence – basement club Glenavon and Portadown are the two teams to have conceded more at this stage.
Caddell’s men sit in 10th, 11 points clear of the Lurgan Blues and one better off than Carrick Rangers, who have two matches in hand.
Northern Ireland’s top-flight is once again hotly-contested with only 13 points separating third and 11th and there have been a number of shock results.
"This league is so tight and we've seen it throughout the season in terms of some big results and eyebrows raised,” added Caddell. “We take every game exactly the same, we do the same prep and work.
"The biggest thing for me is wanting boys to express themselves so I'm disappointed probably in myself for putting the shackles on them in the first half (against Linfield)."