Taylor Regan says Adelaide United “only have themselves to blame” after a frustrating 3-0 loss to Melbourne Victory on Saturday night.
The tempestuous affair had several flashpoints during the game which saw the visitors reduced to 10 men in the second-half.
One of those incidents saw Džengis Čavušević dismissed for an altercation with Rhys Williams nine minutes after being substituted on at half-time.
Regan said the Slovenian striker regretted his actions which in mitigation occurred in the heat of the moment.
“I think Džengis sort of stood up in front of the group and apologised for his actions,” he revealed.
“And I think it was probably a little bit silly and heat of the moment what he did with the little slap.”
The 29-year-old centre-back said the Reds were unable to contain Melbourne, despite expecting their opponents to be fired-up.
“I don’t think we showed up at times,” Regan said.
“We knew it was going to be a fight, we knew that they had a tough schedule and we knew early on they were really going to put pressure on us.
“And if we could weather that storm then it probably held us in good stead.”
Regan inadvertently opened the scoring with an own goal, however Adelaide were unfortunate not to have been awarded a free-kick following a reckless tackle by Rhys Williams on George Blackwood in the lead-up.
“The first goal was pretty ugly it was pretty messy the way it happened and eventuated, the second goal was a good free-kick,” he said.
“But should there have been a free-kick further up the pitch earlier (for the first goal), potentially.
“I mean Rhys Williams got the ball there’s no doubting that but it’s a pretty dangerous tackle.”
Leroy George made it 2-0 via a sensational free-kick before Besart Berisha added a third on 59 minutes.
The Reds face Brisbane Roar at Suncorp Stadium this Saturday and Regan admitted a win will consolidate their finals aspirations.
“We have a big game now in Brisbane and I think three points up there will put us back in a good position,” he continued.
Adelaide United will face Brisbane Roar in Round 22 of the Hyundai A-League 2017/18 season on Saturday, 3 March at Suncorp Stadium. Kick-off is at 7.20pm ACDT.
