Shelbourne manager Damien Duff believes that the international break is coming at the right time for his side and he admitted that they looked flat in their 1-1 draw at home to Cork City.
After a goalless first-half at Tolka Park, the newly promoted Cork took the lead when Ruari Keating swept home from close range to put the visitors in front.
Evan Caffrey's volley cancelled out that Cork opener and while Shels pushed hard for a winner, forcing two goal-line clearances late on, the champions still dropped two points.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport afterward, Duff revealed that a bug had swept through his squad during the week, but he refused to blame for that for his side's performance.
"I'm not using that as an excuse at all," the Shels boss said. "There was certainly a flatness about it, but I'm not using the bug as an excuse.
"There was a bug for a week, 10 days, no problem. Everybody was fit and well today. It had no impact or bearing on our performance or the result tonight. We weren't good enough."
For Duff, the application from his side hasn't been up to the required standard and he was adamant that even had they won the game, he'd still be asking questions of his players.
"You can say we could have nicked it in the second half when they cleared off the line. But wouldn't be happy either way because first and foremost, as managers, as coaches, as staff, you always look at your performance.
"I don't like us at the minute, I don't like our energy, our togetherness, our application. And where does it show most? On a Friday night.
"That's why the international break has come at a good time. We can all, myself included, go away and have a long, hard look at ourselves.
"To retain a league title, you can't go about it the same way. If one thing is a given, it's that you have to work harder."
" I think first half, we probably maybe deserve to be ahead in the game. Second half, we have to really dig in and withstand a lot of pressure."
Cork manager Tim Clancy was far more pleased with his side's performance, as they came away with a point from their first clash with the champions this season.
With just one defeat from their five games so far, Cork are emerging as a team that's difficult to beat and Clancy was happy with the way his side forced Shelbourne to adapt to their approach.
"We still carried a threat in the counter attack and I think we're value for the point today," he said.
"I think we probably had the better of the chances and we kept the ball very well. We were composed.
"It's always a good sign when the opposition, especially when they're as talented as Shelbourne, that they change shape to counteract what we were doing."
