Cliftonville boss Jim Magilton said that his side were “lacklustre in all areas” in their 2-0 north Belfast derby defeat by Crusaders.

After a first half devoid of quality, two goals in quick succession early in the second half from Kieran Offord sealed the win for the Crues.

The defeat was Cliftonville’s third successive loss in the league and Magilton accepted that they were not at the races at Seaview.

“It was pretty tepid from us especially first half. We just didn’t do enough, we lacked imagination and creativity, and we were pretty lacklustre in all areas,” he told BBC Sport NI.

“We talked about raising our game at half-time and the intensity and playing with more passion which we failed to do and they capitalised on that.”

Magilton said that his side now “owe” Reds fans a performance after poor displays against Portadown and Glentoran before their Boxing Day loss against the Crues.

“We need to start the game better, we haven’t started well in a long time. I thought we were very low-key in the changing room at half-time and came out exactly how we looked,” Magilton continued.

“We didn’t give ourselves a chance, two quickfire goals from Crusaders and then we started to play.

“At 2-0 down you have no other option but to play, we didn’t cave in which was a plus, but Crusaders were deserved winners.”