MANAGER'S VIEW: 'That's mentality' - Declan Caddell frustration as Crusaders drop to Premiership bottom spot
Crusaders boss Declan Caddell has challenged his players for a response to falling down the league standings that shows a rise in mental strength.
Saturday’s home loss left Glenavon with a 3-0 win in Belfast off second-half goals by Paddy Burns, Luke McGerrigan and Conor Falls in the crunch clash between the top flight’s bottom two sides.
As a result of that Seaview setback, Caddell’s have swapped spots in the standings with the Lurgan Blues to now prop up the table due to a superior Glenavon goal difference.
Caddell finished frustrated at conceding twice within a decisive four-minute spell and highlighted concerns over “mentality”.
"First half nothing in it whatsoever between both teams...we took control for the first 15 minutes of the second half and were most likely to score,” said Caddell. "We missed an absolute sitter with Fraser (Bryden) to go one up.
"I think Glenavon's first real opportunity, they take it and they were clinical...for me, it was a wee bit of mentality.
"We conceded, probably against the run of the play...we conceded again four minutes later, which has happened all season.
"I thought we contributed (to our goals conceded).
"We talked long and hard this week about denying crosses - number one - and giving away cheap free-kicks.
"The first goal, we had possession of the ball, lose it straight away, give a free-kick and that's an opportunity to put it in the box.
"The second one's a throw, we're 3 v 3 but they get a ball into the box again, someone drifts in unmarked and it's switching off at key moments.
"That's the bottom line, it's key moments in the game and we lose concentration and it's been like that all season.
"You can coach what you want, you can tell them, you can give them all the information.
"But once that happens in that split-second, that's up to the player to take responsibility.
"You're 2-0 down, you're pushing forward and they've hit us on the break...I don't really care about the last goal, it's the first two that have annoyed me."
Caddell added: "It's six games to go..that's it, this won't make or break where we finish end of season, we've still to play Glenavon again."