Loughgall boss Dean Smith said he cannot be “too critical” of his injury-hit side after their 4-0 defeat against Cliftonville.

Smith’s side were undone by a Joe Gormley hat-trick and a goal from Rory Hale, which condemned the Villagers to their third consecutive league defeat.

But Smith believes a number of injuries was a mitigating factor to the heavy nature of the defeat.

“It was a really difficult afternoon, but it is very hard to be critical of the players given the number of bodies we had out, we had eight first teamers missing so to put in a performance the way we did, I can’t be too critical,” he told BBC Sport NI.

Smith admits that his side were undone by a devastating 13-minute spell in the second half where Cliftonville scored three goals, like they did in 12 minutes at Lakeview Park in their 5-0 win earlier in the season.

“We were 1-0 down at half-time, but we were well in the game, and I thought we could have nicked something, but those 13 minutes killed us and that’s the story of our season,” he added.

“They did it in 12 minutes at our place in a similar thing, but the attitude and character I can’t fault.”