Demi Vance says Glentoran must use the disappointment of Monday night’s defeat to Cliftonville as motivation to return to winning ways when they face Crusaders Strikers on Friday night (kick-off 7.45pm).

The Glens slipped to a 3-1 defeat at Solitude, leaving them five points behind the Reds at the top of the Sports Direct Women’s Premiership.

Vance insists the focus must now be on one game at a time as Glentoran look to keep the pressure on the league leaders and maintain their hopes of retaining the title.

“It was obviously disappointing to lose to Cliftonville, but we don’t have time to dwell on the result. We have to get back to winning ways as quickly as possible,” said Vance.

“There wasn’t much in the game at Solitude. The first half was very tight and we managed to get ourselves in front, but we couldn’t hold onto the lead for long enough.

“To make matters worse, they went in front straight away, so it was a double blow in such a short space of time.

“We kept pushing for an equaliser, but they added a late third to seal the win, which was another sting in the tail.

“Now we find ourselves five points behind in the title race, but we can’t afford to let that consume us because there are still plenty of games left.

“Any frustration we have from that result has to be channelled in the right way so that we’re ready to go again on Friday night against Crusaders.

“We just have to focus on each game as it comes. Looking too far ahead won’t help us at all.

“Just because we’ve lost one game doesn’t mean we’ve given up on winning the league again. We know we have to keep winning matches and be ready to take advantage of any slip-ups by the teams above us.

“This squad has a winning mentality. We’ve shown that on countless occasions over the last few years and now it’s time for us to step up again.”

The Glens recorded a 4-2 victory over Crusaders when the sides met at Seaview in June, although two late goals from the hosts threatened to wipe out Glentoran’s commanding 3-0 half-time lead.

Gracie Conway completed her hat-trick in stoppage time to settle any late nerves, but Vance expects another fiercely contested encounter at the Blanchflower Stadium on Friday night.

“We had a great first half in that game at Seaview and deserved to go in 3-0 up at the break,” she said.

“Unfortunately, half-time probably came at the wrong time for us and we were maybe guilty of thinking the game was over.

“You can’t afford to do that in this league because every team will punish you if you switch off, and Crusaders showed exactly that by scoring twice before Gracie wrapped things up for us.

“Just as it was against Cliftonville, and in that game against Crusaders, you have to manage different periods of the game because every team will have spells when they’re on top.

“It’s how you deal with those moments that often determines whether you come away with the points or not.

“We have bags of experience throughout this squad and we’ve all played in high-pressure situations, so we know exactly what is required.

“We worked incredibly hard to win the Premiership title last season and we’ll have to dig deep again if we’re going to make another strong challenge this year.

“We certainly won’t be giving up that trophy without a real fight, I can assure you.”