JIM Magilton believes that Tuesday evening's Bet McLean Cup semi-final victory over Larne will take care of itself as the club focused on a difficult week on and off the pitch. 

The late Michael Newberry was laid to rest on Thursday with Magilton and other club representatives in attendance in Newberry’s home city of Newcastle. 

On the pitch, the Reds host basement battlers Loughgall on Saturday (3pm kick-off), looking to put an end to a four-game losing streak. 

The Reds’ boss says they will assess the fitness of the squad before picking a team that will face a tough nut in Dean Smith’s outfit. 

“Tonight will take care of itself, but then we’ve a massive game coming up at the weekend,” the Cliftonville boss outlined. 

“We’ve got to stop that rot of losing league games - we’ve lost four. We’ll have a body count on Thursday and we’re going to pick a team to try and beat Loughgall. 

“They’ve always proved to be a tough nut to crack in terms of coming to Solitude because they’ve got lots of good players and we’ve got to be ready for it. Tonight is about us and we honour Michael Newberry on Thursday.”

Magilton once again paid tribute to Newberry, insisting he will be looking over the club moving forward and was keen to praise opponents Larne for their class in the aftermath of Tuesday evening's defeat. 

“Michael will be looking over us every day and every day you have moments where you share it with him. He is very much part of our life and very much part of the culture of this football club,” Magilton insisted. 

“Tonight, semi-finals are about winning and it doesn’t matter how you get over the line. The Larne players were very gracious after the game, as you would expect because they are a class act. 

“We move on and we’ve a fantastic final to look forward to with Glentoran. It’s another day out for our fans in March and we go on.” 

Victory at Inver Park was the first in three years since Ryan Curran’s goal in a 1-0 league win in January 2022 and Magilton credited youngster Coran Madden and match winner Destiny Ojo amongst others for their contribution to victory. 

“It is an unhappy hunting ground because they [Larne] are so good,” he believes. 

“They have been so consistent and they’re an outstanding team and you have to earn the right and you have to go the wire because they have so many good players - today we did. 

“We threw caution to the wind. We ended up with Coran Madden who made a massive impact for us. We had Ryan Curran and Ojo and we went for it. 

“In the end, it helps that the opposition are down to 10 men, so it opened up spaces for us to play in. Tonight was just about trying to win the game.”

Magilton acknowledged that his side was wasteful in the final in the final third but has called on them to show the same unity and togetherness going forward. 

“If you look at the game in the context we were wasteful,” he acknowledged.

“We got into wonderful areas and we were wasteful. That’s something that we will take out of this game. When we get into areas of the pitch where we expect quality, we have to pick people out and have better movement, but it is a semi-final. 

“To win a semi-final is huge. We march on and we stick together again and show that unity and togetherness that got us through tonight. I have to say our fans were out of this world.”

On the injury front, the Reds’ boss revealed that Kris Lowe and Shea Gordon aren’t far from making returns from injury and is hopeful of adding one or players by the end of the month. 

“Kris Lowe probably could have done with a game on Monday night,” he pondered. 

“Shea Gordon played 60 minutes on Monday night, which was fantastic. Sean [Stewart] is still a wee bit off and Rory [Donnelly] is still a wee bit off and hopefully, we can get one or two in before the window closes.”