Ollie Horgan insists that Finn Harps need to find their ‘fight, endeavour and spirit’ again.
After a damaging 3-0 defeat to UCD at Belfield on Friday, Harps are preparing to host Premier Division leaders Shamrock Rovers this week.
UCD scored three times in the second half on a night when Harps were well below par – and Horgan has called for an instant response.
“There’d need to be a response,” he told Donegal Daily/Donegal Sport Hub.
“There has to be. If we get the fighting spirit back, we’ll pick up results along the way.
“We got no points against Cork the week before, but there was plenty of fight, endeavour and spirit.
“We need to get that back as quickly as we can, or it will be a long year.”
Harps shipped a 3-0 loss to Rovers in Tallaght two weeks ago on a night when the gulf in standards was evident.
Horgan said: “The most impressive side we’ve played – and we’ve played some seriously impressive sides – was Shamrock Rovers.
“They wiped the floor with us in the first half in Tallaght. The score-line could have been more, but the lads fought and dug in to keep the score at 3-0.”
Listen to the full interview below …