Derry City players must 'channel hurt' of Dundalk defeat: says Declan Devine

There's not much time to dwell on Monday night's 'disappointing' 2-1 loss to Dundalk and despite languishing third from bottom in the table with three games to go, the Derry boss opted to focus on the positives from the game.

And a frustrated Devine felt his side deserved to take something from the match.

"Ultimately we came up short," he said. "We have nothing from the match and we've got to take that disappointment into Friday and make sure we come out with a big response."

It was 17 days since Derry were last in action and it took them 18 minutes to get into their stride. At that stage they were already two goals down as Sean Murray and Jordan Flores gave Dundalk the perfect start.

Despite that poor opening and the concession of two avoidable goals, Devine was pleased with the character his side displayed as their comeback ultimately fell short.

"I was really disappointed with the way we started obviously. Giving away the two goals in the manner we did gave ourselves a mountain to climb.

"But I thought character-wise their response was very good. I thought we were really comfortable throughout the duration of the game after those first 15 minutes.

"Maybe that was down to them having a 2-0 advantage and sitting on it but I thought our response was good.

"The players were gutted for the goals we gave away. Our goalkeeper hasn't had a save to make in the game and we can't afford to make the mistakes we did.

"We've got to take the positives out of the game, however. I thought we were decent for long spells in the match.

"(Aaron) McCarey has made a couple of saves to keep them in it. Ultimately we didn't take any points and that's the most concerning aspect of the night.

"It's disappointing but we haven't time to feel sorry for ourselves. We have to dust ourselves down now and get ready for Friday night."

Derry were missing suspended skipper, Conor McCormack while James Akintunde and Stephen Mallon picked up injuries leaving the home side with limited attacking options.

Despite long range efforts from Conor Clifford and Jack Malone and a potential penalty appeal, the Candy Stripes were unable to unlock the Dundalk defence.

"I felt we deserved something out of the game, I really do. Some of our approach play was good. I thought we just lacked the killer instinct in the final third of the pitch.

"I can't fault the guys because they emptied the tank in there and worked extremely hard.

"We just didn't have the strength in depth to make those necessary changes whenever we were on top in moments of the game that made the difference.

"The best I feel about the game tonight is that we showed a real spirit to get back into the game.

"You have to have a bit of character and a bit of belief and a bit of pride not to just let the game go. A couple of goals down after minutes of the game you could easily just fold but they showed a good spirit, they showed character to deal with those setbacks and their response to get our goal was good.

"We've got to make sure we don't give away soft goals and have to chase games. It's very difficult against the top sides.

"We've got to make sure we're ready for Friday, take the disappointment and hurt from the defeat and make sure on Friday we perform better defensively and not give away any easy goals."

Devine will be hoping Akintunde, Mallon and Darren Cole who came off with a hamstring injury are fit enough to return to the fold for the visit of Shelbourne on Friday in a game which now takes on greater significance.

"The one thing I can say about this bunch of lads is that they're hurting. They know that wasn't a game we should've lost. We will get ourselves together again and hopefully we will have one or two of the boys back.

"With McCormack coming back and Joe Thomson and Gerardo Bruna coming on tonight it will give us that strength in depth.

"We've got to take the hurt from tonight and channel it and make sure we're ready to go come Friday."