Sligo Rovers manager John Russell revealed that he received some words of encouragement from Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson after their 3-0 defeat away to Derry City.
A Danny Mullen double and Gavin Whyte's second goal of the campaign ensured Derry made it back-to-back victories for the first time this season.
Hallgrímsson was in the stands at the Ryan McBride Brandywell as Tiernan Lynch's side moved just three points behind leaders Drogheda United while Sligo remain rooted to the bottom of the table.
The result was all the more disappointing for Rovers given that they came into the game off the back of a morale boosting 4-0 win away to Waterford last Friday.
Sligo trail Waterford by two points at the bottom of the table but Russell is hopeful that his side can get out of trouble and Hallgrímsson had some positive words for the Sligo boss.
" He offered a bit of encouragement," Russell said of his conversation with the Ireland manager. "He liked the way we played, how we progressed the ball through the thirds and the chances that we created with young players that didn't drop their heads.
"They're all positives, we know that, But we're in the business of winning matches as well, and we know why we've gifted away goals tonight. That cost us getting points on the board.
"We have to regroup quickly. We've got good players in there, we'll get back on the training ground, we'll regroup and we go again Saturday."
Sligo welcome Cork City to the Showgrounds this weekend and Russell believes that his squad are strong enough to get and move off the bottom of the table.
Cork are three points ahead of the Bit O’Red but a win for Sligo could see them leapfrog the visitors.
" I've got real good belief in the group of players that we have," Russell said. "We've got experience and we've got inexperienced young players at Sligo.
"They're a talented bunch and they've got to keep working hard. We had a brilliant performance and result on Friday and we've come up here.
"As I said, once you're off it, we can't afford to have two or three players down gears. We need everyone at it in to get a result. It wasn't to be tonight. But we need everyone at it on Saturday and hopefully that will give us a chance."
