Derry City boss responds to Tim Nilsen's bad-tempered reaction at being subbed

Nilsen, who struggled to get into the game at the Regional Sports Centre, thumped the side of the Derry City dugout in frustration after he was replaced by Adam Liddle as the Candy Stripes attempted to break down the Blues with the game poised at 1-1.

Devine and assistant boss, Kevin Deery reacted instantly and quickly reprimanded the striker before returning their attention to the game.

When asked about Nilsen's reaction in his post-match interview, Devine defended his decision to change his attacking options and warned that such behaviour wouldn't be tolerated at the club. And the City supremo suggested the former Fredrikstad hitman should 'reflect on his own performance' before 'disrespecting' his teammates.

"It's up to Tim to look at the game back and have a reflection on his own performance," said Devine. "I've said that to Tim. We ain't in the habit of disrespecting the people who come on the pitch. We've got a lot of good players at the club and if someone isn't happy then come and see me."

Nilsen, who has started all four of Derry's opening SSE Airtricity Premier Division fixtures so far, has yet to get off the mark for the Candy Stripes and on Friday night the striker struggled to trouble the Blues defence.

Derry failed to test Waterford keeper, Brian Murphy in the second half and Devine quickly rung the changes with three substitutions inside 11 minutes as Nilsen, Jamie McDonagh and Walter Figueira made way for Liddle, Conor Clifford and Jack Malone respectively.

"I had to bring on people who were going to change the game for us," explained the City boss. "Adam Liddle has come on during the last couple of games and did extremely well. I felt we were losing the battle in midfield and brought on an extra midfield player.

"At the end of the day I don't think it's down to any one or two players. Collectively we didn't do enough to win the game. We were poor with the ball and poor without the ball. We gave away two soft goals even though they were from a long way out. I think we got what we deserved."

"I have a very difficult job. I have a lot of quality players so we will go back to the drawing board and get ready for Sligo next week."