'We looked as if we'd thrown the towel in' - Gregg

The Coleraine man also questioned whether defeats hurt them as much as it hurts him.

"It was hard, the first-half was as bad as we've played and we looked as if we'd thrown the towel in," he admitted.

"You can have all the ability in the world but if you're not going to work hard then there's no point having that ability. Institute are about working hard and my teams like working hard, but that was flat for me and a very disappointing first-half," he said.

"It's very easy to come out and play in the second-half because you're three goals down and the players were kept behind afterwards for a reason which will stay in there.

"It hurts me, does it hurt my players as much as it hurts me? I expect more and even from senior players. It's very easy to walk off a football pitch and go and watch a match on Sky TV and not think about what went on.

"Me, sadly, I think about what went on and I hurt. Make no bones about it, it f****** hurts me and if I don't see hurt in my players then they know they have a problem with me.

"We lost good players at Christmas time because we had to, but I'm saying to the players in there I don't accept that as a first-half. When you're at a club like Institute the first thing you do is work hard. We didn't work hard at all. Ruairi McClean gets a little bit of credit and Gavin Cullen but outside of that there weren't too many others.

"That crippled me, not because Ballymena were three goals better, but because we gifted them the game. Credit to Ballymena and Roy Walker."

Although the Waterside men still have two home matches remaining starting with Coleraine this weekend, before finishing with Newry City on Saturday, May 1, their boss is already looking at the possibility of a play-off against Donegal Celtic.

The Belfast men defeated Limavady United on Saturday to move top of the Championship, and if they stay there, 'Stute will go down; however if Loughgall, who have three matches in hand and are five points behind the leaders, manage to win the league, then DC would face 'Stute in a play-off.

"The goals we gave away were terrible and I told them that was as bad a first-half as I've seen since I came to the club and, mathematically, we now have to look at a play-off against Donegal Celtic.

"Before that though I would like better performances than I've seen today. You're not down, you're not relegated and if we get into a play-off we need to be prepared for that.

"It's about staying focused and I know we could pull it back depending on Newry but you've got to look at all the options and quite possibly now at Donegal Celtic.

"It all depends now on what happens in the First Division. We can't go into a play-off against Donegal Celtic like that. Remember this club went down before when Liam Beckett was manager and they went into the game expecting to win but you've got to go in expecting Donegal Celtic being every bit as good as Linfield.

"Over the next couple of games we don't hold back. I have three or four gifted players who are often written about but next week I might put 11 boys in that will give me a shift next Saturday, in fact, I will do.

"I'm not on about creativity and being nice and the beautiful game, I'm on about putting boys on the pitch that I know will give me a shift and kick, bite and fight for every point we have left in this league."