Fuad Sule insists Glentoran will 'have to suck it up' after losing to Cliftonville in Sunday's BetMcLean Cup final. The Glens were edged out 1-0 at Windsor Park thanks to Joe Gormley's extra time goal.
It was a bitter pill for Declan Devine's men as they missed out on lifting a second trophy this season following their County Antrim Shield success earlier in the campaign.
"Obviously there's a feeling of disappointment as it's never nice to lose a cup final. I thought it was a good game and either team could have won it," Sule said.
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"They had chances and we had chances but it was Cliftonville's day today, so we need to take our medicine, suck it up and use it as a lesson. This group has only been together for eight or nine months and there have been 14 new players, so to even get here was a big deal for us.
"Listen, we came second and that's the bottom line, but we will use it as fuel to finish the season strong."
Sule believes the experience of playing in front of almost 15,000 fans in a showpiece final will stand Glentoran 's squad in good stead. And he insists the main target for the club now is qualifying for Europe.
They currently sit in second spot in the Irish Premiership which offers them an automatic route to the continent.
"European football is always the target for Glentoran. If you can't win the league here, then you have to get the next best thing which is European football," he added.
"We really wanted to win this cup and bring it back to the Oval, but listen, it was a first cup final for some of them boys and first game in front of 15,000.
"It's part and parcel of their experience and their development and we will use that as fuel to finish the season as strong as possible. It was a brilliant day and a brilliant occasion...and something good to be a part of and experience.
"But you don't get any trophies for finishing second, and ultimately, we came up short on the day. You can only use a loss as a lesson."
Sule admits Glentoran's Achilles heel this season has been putting the ball in the net, and it returned to haunt them on Sunday.
"We had two or three clear-cut chances that we should have put into the back of the net. It's been the story of our season that we haven't scored enough and been ruthless in front of goal," he said.
"You need to take them chances in a cup final as they might not come around again, and I thought we had enough chances to win the game. I thought they had a few chances also, it was an even game and I thought one goal was always going to win it.
"It's disappointing but we need to take our medicine and finish the season strongly."
He added: "The games are coming thick and fast now. We have another game on Wednesday and nine fixtures to finish the season as strong as possible.
"We can't use this defeat as an excuse to derail our season. We need to use it as a way of trying to finish the season as strong as possible and to consolidate the position we are in."
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