Linfield boss David Healy insists there’ll be no hiding place for his boys in today’s Danske Bank Premiership showdown against Ballymena United at the Warden Street Showgrounds.
The Blues’ confidence is in a fragile stage following two shattering quick-fire defeats.
After their heart-breaking penalty shootout loss to Latvian side RFS in a Europa Conference League group-stage play-off – which cost he club close to 2.9m Euro – Healy's troops were then humbled by Carrick Rangers last Sunday.
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But when the going gets tough, the tough get going and former Northern Ireland international striker Healy is demanding a response against David Jeffrey’s Sky Blues.
“We have to be better than we were last Sunday,” he said. “If we turn up at the Showgrounds with the level of performance we showed at Carrick Rangers, we won’t beat Ballymena, that’s for sure.
“I had an honest, open discussion with the players this week, so hopefully the team we select will go, put in a performance, work hard and hopefully, come 5pm we’ll have three hard-earned points.”
Healy shrugged off suggestions that the European disappointment was the reason his boys turned in such an inept showing at Carrick.
He added: “I selected a strong team, although there were one or two missing from the squad. We knew the expectation levels and where we needed to be, physically, but it just wasn’t there.
“We had the hard luck story of the European game, but it’s no excuse. The disappointing thing for me was there was a huge Linfield following at Carrick and I wanted us to get the points for the fans – I wanted the players to respond and react in the proper way, but we didn’t get it.
“The players know it wasn’t acceptable, it wasn’t good enough. There are no excuses.
“This club usually responds in the proper manner when we lose a game, but for whatever reason that just didn’t happen. We found a way not to win the game.”
Although United were beaten (3-0) by Larne at Inver Park last time out, manager David Jeffrey insisted the game hinged on vital refereeing decisions.
United vice-captain Steven McCullough was dismissed for a late challenge, but Larne’s Paul O’Neill was only shown a yellow card for a similar type of incident.
“Refereeing is a difficult occupation,” said Jeffrey. “I have the greatest respect for them.
“It’s a game of opinions. Steven was dismissed and I can understand the rationale behind it, but what I couldn’t understand was why Paul O’Neill wasn’t also sent off – I can’t see any difference in the two challenges.
“Ironically, Paul then goes on to score two goals and has a massive impact on the game.
“We had a couple of great chances to score, through Josh Kelly and David McDaid. We are not looking to make excuses, they boys held up their hands, we need to do better in front of goal.
“I was desperately proud of how the players worked and continued to apply themselves when we went down to 10 men, they were not for giving up. We now face another mighty challenge against a Linfield team that will be coming with a point to prove.”
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