Derry City boss Declan Devine has warned his players their performance in defeat to Sligo Rovers was "simply not good enough" after they crawled out of the traps on Friday evening.
The Candystripes welcomed the Bit O'Red to the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium in the first Airtricity League Premier Division game of the restart but they were out-fought and out-thought by the visitors who claimed a deserved 2-0 win.
Derry, with four points from five games, are one point off the bottom and in a truncated 18-game season, an extended slump is potentially perilous.
"We never showed up," Devine told RTÉ Sport's Adrian Eames afterwards.
"It was a very bad performance from all of us. We gave away two really disappointing goals but we didn't create enough either.
"We weren't brave enough on the ball, we were second to the ball, we were a bit bulled at times. Credit to Sligo, I didn't think they had to do a lot to win the game, I think we beat ourselves.
"We have to have a good look at ourselves leading into a difficult game at St Pat's. It's the first game we've lost here this year but that's three defeats out of five (overall) and it's simply not good enough."
Sligo boss Liam Buckley however was thrilled.
Kyle Callan-McFadden and Ronan Coughlan goals in each half gave his charges the points, as their gutsy commitment to the cause was fully rewarded.
"We worked extremely hard in fairness," said Buckley.
"They have put in a serious shift, they have kept it fairly compact and they've limited Derry to very little.
"There wasn't a lot in the game but nonetheless we took our goals well and we're grateful for the win."
