Institute boss Kevin Deery wants side 'to be aggressive and entertain'

Deery watched his young Institute side produce sparkling football and some golden moments - only to suffer a 1-0 defeat at Championship favourites Portadown.

Eoin Bradley found the net to capitalise on what Deery felt was ‘our only mistake’ as the boss finished frustrated at Institute hitting both post and crossbar, having one goal ruled out for offside and a penalty claim waved away.

"We train like that three days a week...on the frontfoot, we want to be attractive and it's my style to be aggressive and entertain,” said Deery. "We played some excellent football and did everything bar put the ball in the back of the net.

"When I was in the Championship with Institute seven or eight years ago we played a similar brand.

"I'm longer down the coaching ladder now and see myself as more experienced but I'll never fear away from how I want to play.

"If it's detrimental to my career I still won't do it...I'm going to pass the ball and have exciting players.

"That's just who I am and who I will always be...that's my style and I'll stick to it.

"But we understand every aspect of the game, there's attacking football but you have to defend as well.

"We don't just go out with attacking patterns, we work hard to get our shape right.

"The players we've brought in are not just luxury players, they are going to dig in as well.

"We'll not give ourselves a pat on the back...we're just disappointed.

"That's got to be the mindset."

Deery, however, issued a word of warning alongside the warm praise.

"Today is going to be the best learning curve for the players, they're heart-sick and don't want to be having that feeling too often,” he said. "I expect us to learn and not give away a soft goal, which was our only mistake.

"We showed the lads some clips of what we did well and what we didn't do too well.”

Deery singled out the summer recruitment work as key to progress.

"Since the day and hour they've come in they've been excellent,” he said. "They're not getting really rewarded financially the way they should be and it's really refreshing they're here for the love of the game.

"I'm just disappointed they didn't get their rewards here today.

"Our recruitment has been very good in terms of bringing in young and hungry players who, to be honest, might want to use Institute as a stepping stone.

"Some of those young lads have a bright future in the game and I think that was integral to our recruitment...players who want to better themselves.

"They were immense today, I'm so proud of the boys.”