We can only get better says Platt

Platt was clearly disappointed with the defeat, but he pointed to two key decisions which he felt cost his side the chance to get something out of the game.

The Coleraine boss was aggrieved with Neal Gawley's tackle which left Marc Mukendi with a gash on his leg, and he also took objection to referee Alan Black's decision to award the Glens a throw which led to their second goal.

He said: "Take away the mistake early in the game, which gave them the opportunity to take the lead, and if the referee had spotted the terrible challenge on Marc after about 35 minutes, there's a chance Glentoran could have been down to ten men and it would have been a different game.

"Marc was taken away from the ground in an ambulance and needed five or six stitches in a puncture wound on his shin. If the referee sees the challenge, in fact the referee, the assistant on that side and the fourth official probably had a better view than I did, you expect them to act on it and for none of them to do so is baffling.

"Then you have the decision for their second goal where the official on the far side overrules the referee in giving Glentoran a throw in, which had been awarded to us. Now they take a quick throw in and we're caught out of position.

"But those small things just aren't going for us at the minute, but we can't afford to dwell on them. We just have to focus on the next game and on working extremely hard to get a result from it."

Platt though doesn't think his side are missing the goals of the now departed Rory Patterson.

"People seem to think that last season was all about Rory (Patterson)," he rapped. "We came here and won the season before last without Rory.

"I thought at times we played quite well, we played to our strengths and didn't let Glentoran get any real fluency in their football.

"All-in-all there are some positives I can take, but ultimately football is about results and getting points on the board and I'm none to happy that we didn't get something from the game."