CLIFTONVILLE will hope to return to winning ways after their weekend to defeat to Linfield when they host bottom-of-the-table Portadown at Solitude this evening (7.45pm kick-off). 

The loss at Windsor Park saw the Reds relinquish top spot in the Premiership, with Larne now occupying first place and have a game in hand ahead of the top-two clash at Inver Park at the weekend. 

With that in mind, boss Paddy McLaughlin acknowledges it is important that his side bounce back straight away and insists they won’t be going into this evening’s clash disheartened. 

“We’re not going out the door with our heads down or feeling sorry for ourselves,” he insists. 

“We’re going out on the back of a really good performance. Portadown just becomes really important because we have to bounce back from set-back and bounce back from defeat. If we go into that game with our heads down or feeling sorry for ourselves in any way. Portadown will be glad to see that, and they will take advantage of it. 

“You have to remember they are fighting for their lives and any team down there will be glad to see weakness in the opposition. It’s important that we bounce back and prepare for Portadown and treat them the same as we treated Linfield all week. We do a lot of homework on every opponent and Portadown will be no different.”

McLaughlin believes that everybody in the top-six will still feel they have a genuine chance of winning the league, but is tipping Linfield and Larne to lead the race come the conclusion. 

“I always said from the start, anybody who finishes above Linfield will win the league,” he insists. 

“You probably need to add Larne into that. It is going to be really difficult to separate them two now. We’ll stay in there and stay in the fight for as long as we can. 

“Hopefully we can go one better than we did last year, but I think you’re probably looking at Larne and Linfield and everybody else will fight for their lives to stay with them for as long as they can, and we’ll be no different to that. 

“It’s brilliant for the neutral I’m sure and I’m sure it’s exciting for all the fans involved. I’ve never seen a title race where there are 11 games to go and six teams still in contention. If you’re realistic, then you’re probably looking at Larne and Linfield at this stage.”