CLIFTONVILLE boss Jim Magilton is happy that his side were able to mix up their approach play and will want it to continue when they visit Portadown at the weekend.
The Reds make the trip to Shamrock Park to take on the Ports on Saturday (3pm kick-off), looking to end their four-game winless run against Niall Currie’s side.
Since beating the Ports on the opening day of last season, Cliftonville have lost three and drawn the other encounter, but after their weekend win against table-toppers Coleraine, Magilton will be hopeful of extending their positive form of late.
“We can’t get too fixated on that ball [long ball] because of his [Ryan Curran] pace” Magilton explained.
“Generally, he gets us high up the pitch because the goal then counteracts all of that, because of the way we can pass it and play through an aggressive press. It is something that we do daily and we want to see more of that in the game.
“Eric carries a huge threat for us because of his pace and because he puts defenders under massive pressure. He gets defenders facing their own goal which is something they don’t particularly like.
“We can play more, and we can mix it up and I thought we did do that at times today, but in the context of a game against the league leaders and where we are trying to build, it was a magnificent performance and all credit goes to the players”.
Jim Magilton believes Ryan Curran will be an effective return for the Reds
Jonny Addis also came in for praise for his contribution to the weekend's win, with Magilton highlighting the consistency in selections that have benefited to their recent performances and results.
“Jonny [Addis] certainly has been a catalyst for lots of the good things that we want to build, and has been from the moment we have come into the football club,” he acknowledged.
“The other thing we have to say is that the consistency now in selections is important. Performance levels have gone through the roof in terms of their numbers.
“I’m not a big statistician, but the numbers back up what we actually see. The numbers in terms of their distance covered, their high speed running and all of that is backed up by what we actually see and there is a huge effort.
“You have to applaud the players. There is a magnificent tackle at the end from Rory Hale to keep the ball out of the net. It’s all hands to the pump, and that's what we believe in and that intensity with and without the ball is so important for us.”
Magilton was forced into tactical readjustments late in the game, and was pleased it paid off after Shea Gordon had failed a pre-match fitness test.
Joe Sheridan also departed with a shoulder problem, but Magilton doesn’t feel that it is serious, lauding the youngster and team-mate Keevan Hawthorne for their performances since coming into the starting XI last month.
“He [Joe Sheridan] landed really awkwardly early on, on his shoulder and it started to tense up,” Magilton revealed.
“Again, another wonderful performance from him. He and Keevo [Hawthorne] were away with the Northern Ireland U-19s.
“They are really, really good players. Again, they have the total faith of the players and also staff and they are only going to get better.
“Keevo showed great composure for the goal. We got in so many good areas where we lacked that a little bit. He showed that and we are delighted with their progress and long may that continue for both of them.”
