'We didn't deserve anything from the game' - McAree

Dungannon Swifts manager Rodney McAree conceded that his side's display in their 3-2 defeat by Glenavon at Stangmore Park did not warrant any points.

The Lurgan Blues led 2-0 at the interval courtesy of goals from David McDaid and Jack Malone but a John McGovern penalty and Andy Mitchell's header restored parity.

Malone's second of the game 10 minutes from time decided the issue and denied McAree's second-placed side the opportunity to pull clear of Glentoran and Portadown below them.

"I don't think we deserved anything out of the game. Our first half performance was far from good enough," lamented the Swifts boss.

"The players knew that too - they came in disappointed at half-time. We tried to regroup, we tried to galvanise.

"I wanted to see if we could get a response and I think to be fair we got that. We showed some fight in the second half but we still lacked the quality that we know that we have.

"We looked like we had the momentum but then we conceded a poor goal. You think you've done so well to get back into it, worked so hard, and then to concede a sloppy goal like that is disappointing."

McAree was impressed by Paddy McLaughlin's men who have now won five of their past six games in all competitions

"Glenavon were very good tonight. I thought they showed a lot of energy and a lot of quality on the ball.

"They hurt us at times and we struggled to get up to those levels. It's maybe a bit of a wake-up call that we need to do the basics better than what we did tonight.

"It's our first poor performance in a long time, we just have to get back to it as quickly as we can to put the wrongs right.