'We let so many people down' - Magilton on play-off loss

Jim Magilton pulled no punches as Cliftonville's European hopes were ended by Dungannon Swifts on Saturday.

The Reds had hoped to end what Magilton labelled as a "really poor season" by earning a place in the Uefa Conference League qualifiers.

But the Cliftonville boss was left disappointed as his side couldn't kick on after Luke Conlan had cancelled out Adam Glenny's opener for the Swifts with Kealan Dillon's 74th minute winner condemning the Solitude outfit to more big game heartache.

"We let so many people down. Players let themselves down, we let the fans down," said Magilton.

"We commend Dungannon, we were there last year [bouncing back after losing an Irish Cup final] so we know what it's like. They had to put together a team and they did that and they deserved to win the game.

"But in terms of us, we were nowhere near the levels. Both teams conceded poor goals from set plays. We settled down in the second half, and we expected an onslaught, but we didn't get that.

"We didn't test the goalkeeper enough, we didn't ask enough questions, and it's probably typical of the big games. We've let ourselves down badly in the big games and didn't have enough."

Cliftonville finished fifth in the Irish Premiership and faced penalty shootout disappointment in the County Antrim Shield final, the BetMcLean Cup quarter-final and the Irish Cup semi-final with Magilton frustrated that they ended the campaign with "a lot of what ifs".

"There weren't enough leaders in the team. There weren't enough people smelling blood. Dungannon were fighting for their very lives, which you do, which you have to do, and again showed their qualities," he added.

"But from our point of view, it's so disappointing. It's a really poor end to what has probably been a really poor season. It was a lot of what-ifs.

"Losing on penalties, yeah, you can look to that. You can look to semi-final losses, County Antrim Shield losses, quarter-final losses, whatever it is.

"It was an opportunity for the players to really stand up and be counted and we didn't. We have to accept that it was an unacceptable performance."

Without the additional funds from competing in European competition, Magilton accepts Cliftonville will face another battle to compete next season.

"It's going to make it harder because European money means budgets will be sliced and you have to cut your cloth accordingly," explained the Reds boss.

"Even when we had European money, we still had to cut our cloth accordingly. You only have to look at the standard and quality of players that are being brought into the clubs that finished above us. So, it's going to be even harder for us."