Dónal Óg Cusack believes Clare would be better off focussing on themselves rather than "looking for some scapegoats" following their All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Kilkenny.
For the second consecutive year, Brian Lohan's side exited the Championship at the last four stage at the hands of the Cats.
Lohan stated after the game that referee Colm Lyons 'maybe didn't have his best day', with his decision to bring play back for a Clare free just before Mark Rogers put the ball in the net for the Banner County a particularly controversial decision.
However, Cusack feels there were enough things that Clare themselves did wrong during the game that they should be focussing on rather than pointing the finger at the referee.
He told RTE's The Sunday Game: "Clare can count themselves unlucky in that.
"But I don’t think that was the biggest thing out of the game. Clare would be better off looking at themselves. There is a tendency over the last while to be focusing out of those types of big decisions, but it is swings and roundabouts.
"Colm Lyons didn’t strike all the balls wide that Clare did today. Didn’t strike all the balls wide last year. They were the architects of their own downfall with that goal. That wasn’t Colm Lyons’ fault.
"For Clare, going forward, it needs to be looking inward rather than looking for some scapegoats."
Four-time All-Ireland winner Ursula Jacob agreed with Cusack's point, but says the goal should have stood.
She added: "It was a key moment. I agree and understand Dónal Óg’s point, you can’t look for those individual mistakes, you have to look at the bigger picture.
"But that will stick in Clare minds – they should have been allowed to get that goal."
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