Ruaidhri Higgins promises period of self reflection
Linfield leapfrog long time league leaders at top of table with comfortable win
Coleraine head coach Ruaidhri Higgins has hinted at a change of direction following Saturday’s humbling at Windsor Park.
The league leaders went into the game in confident mood but were found wanting as Linfield eased to a 3-0 win.
There was little between the teams up until just before half-time when the hosts struck for the first goal, Rhys Brennan with the finish.
A second followed shortly after the break, Adam Frizzell with the finish, and the points were made safe with a little under 20 minutes remaining as Kitt Nelson strolled through the visitors’ defence to score a sublime third.
Speaking after the game, a clearly frustrated Bannsiders’ boss accepted his team’s defending hadn’t been good enough and suggested a change of emphasis might be adopted going forward.
“Close to half of our goals conceded this season have been against Linfield - we have to have more desire defending our own box,” he conceded.
“Does that come to me, looking for the perfect type of performance all the time rather than really focusing on the nitty gritty and the dirty side of the game? That’s somewhere I have to learn and develop and get better at.
“We wanted to come here and dominate the ball in the first half, that was the plan, to take the sting out of the game and I thought we did that for the most part – neither team had opportunities.
“Then we concede a silly goal just before half time and then they smelled blood at the start of the second half. We started it really poorly, gave them oxygen and they punished it.
“I was trying to make the subs when the second goal went in and maybe I should have reacted quicker than I did. I have to self reflect.
“It’s something I do and I will continue to do. There are things that I need to focus on myself and as a collective we need to get better.
“Do we focus enough during the week on defending our box? Maybe not, but we’ll look at that in training during the week.
“It’s not an individual thing, it’s a mindset where we focus so much on attacking teams and dominating games so, again, that’s where I have to look myself and take responsibility,” he added.