'Emotionally it is tough right now' - Derry boss Higgins

"It's strange, three weeks ago we were in contention to win a double and we've won nothing".

In the wake of Sunday's FAI Cup defeat by Drogheda United, Derry City manager Ruaidhri Higgins perfectly encapsulated his side's disastrous end to a season which had promised so much.

The Candystripes finished fourth in the Premier Division despite being locked in a title race with eventual champions Shelbourne for much of the season.

They had the chance to salvage something from their campaign by bringing a second FAI Cup in three years back to the Brandywell against a Drogheda side who have a promotion/relegation play-off to come against Bray Wanderers.

Yet the league collapse, rather than galvanising the side, seemed to have a lasting impact as they failed to get going at the Aviva Stadium.

Andrew Quinn opened the scoring by beating Mark Connolly to Shane Farrell's inviting free-kick before Douglas James-Taylor converted a spot kick after Ronan Boyce fouled Conor Kane.

"We didn’t do ourselves justice, we had a lot of the ball but didn’t do anything with it and we didn’t hurt them enough," Higgins told BBC Sport NI.

"Emotionally, it is tough right now and congratulations to Drogheda, but it’s been a really tough few weeks."

'We'll dig deep and keep fighting'

Derry City will not play European football next season after their fourth-place finish and cup final defeat

Higgins was frustrated that they were unable to do better with the early chances created and at the manner of the goals Derry conceded.

"We had a couple of good moments and chances at 0-0 and in cup finals you have to take them," he added.

"Then we concede from a set play and from a penalty and we’ve given ourselves an uphill task and it is a real tough end to the season and a tough one to take."

A huge consequence of the cup defeat and fourth-place finish is that the Candystripes will not play European football next year.

Higgins is adamant they will come back better next year after a period of soul searching.

"We have a bit of time to reflect in the next week or two and see where things are at, as you can imagine it is tough to speak now," he continued.

"It’s easy to lie down in tough moments, but we’ll dig deep and keep fighting and come back stronger."

Derry midfielder Michael Duffy echoed his manager's sentiments by admitting that the defeat in a game they went into as favourites "hurts a lot and will do for a while".

"It’s been a real tough few weeks, we could get over the [disappointment of the] league one because we had this to look forward to," he said.

"This is really tough with the position we were in a few weeks ago to where we ended up. It's difficult to know what to say."