Carrick Rangers boss Stuart King praised the “outstanding” display from his side despite their agonising 1-0 defeat against Linfield at Windsor Park.

The visitors frustrated Linfield for most of the game before Kirk Millar scored a stunning 97th minute free-kick to give the Blues all three points.

Carrick have now suffered seven successive league defeats, but King was keen to take the positives after a heartbreaking late defeat.

“I thought my lads were superb, it’s another kick when we didn’t need one, it was another tough one to take,” King told BBC Sport NI.

“We limited them to very little and a bit of magic in the 97th minute wins it. For 96 out of 97 minutes I thought my lads were outstanding and for us to concede at the end was devastating.”

King, who was critical of his side after their 4-1 home defeat against Ballymena United on Tuesday, has challenged his players to deliver similar performances in future games as they look to turn their fortunes around.

“I thought the game plan worked a treat and they gave me absolutely everything,” he continued.

“I can be down and disappointed or I can be really positive and if they give me that every week there will be no problems.”