Dan McFarland: Ulster mood positive despite slump, says coach

Ulster Rugby: Head coach Dan McFarland says they are 'focusing on getting better'

Ulster coach Dan McFarland says motivating his team is "really easy" despite a run of four defeats in five games.

The latest loss came at the hands of Irish rivals Munster on Sunday.

"There's never been an occasion in the last five weeks where I've sensed people are despondent," said McFarland.

"You come in and you're disappointed but there's always an attitude of action. The mood is one of getting better as it's always been."

Munster's last-gasp 15-14 win In Belfast was the latest setback for Ulster after recent defeats by Leinster, Sale and La Rochelle.

It follows a good start to the campaign and McFarland is confident his team can return to winning ways.

Watch: Last-gasp Munster snatch derby win over Ulster in Belfast

"We understand the difficult spell we've been in, but we understand what a quality team we are. We've demonstrated that over three or four years," he added.

"The criticism in terms of are you playing as well as you can do is fair. We're here doing our job and working very hard at it, and I would like to think history would show we're good at doing our jobs.

"Do I think we're playing as well now as we were in rounds three to six? Probably not, and there are a number of factors for that.

"There were little bits of the game that didn't work at the weekend as we would normally expect, for instance our turnovers, our kick chase game which is normally excellent wasn't as good.

"There are a number of things we've regressed in but you have to take it in the context of the fixtures we're playing as well.

"There's bound to be criticism because that's part of the fun of being a supporter and a pundit. I don't really read the criticism, so I don't know if it's overblown."

Ulster's defeat by Munster was compounded by knee damage suffered by prop Marty Moore which McFarland said was "quite possibly a season-ending injury".

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