CLIFTONVILLE captain Rory Hale believes it is up to himself, senior team-mates and staff to pick up the younger members of the squad in the aftermath of their Cup final shootout defeat to Dungannon. 

The Reds must regroup and pick themselves up for a European playoff semi-final away to Glentoran on Wednesday evening (7.45pm kick-off) as they bid to secure European football. 

Hale admits to being disheartened in the aftermath of the weekend's loss but stressed the importance of lifting the squad for a trip to the Oval.  

“We are away to Glentoran on Wednesday night, now it is really up to the senior boys like myself,” Hale believes. 

“Listen, we can’t cry over spilt milk. It’s over and done with and very disheartening for myself. I’ve put a lot into this season, it’s been a really, really emotional season for us. 

“Them young players have went through a lot, the highs of winning a trophy, the lows of losing a team-mate and finishing in the bottom half this season and now another bit of heartbreak for the young boys to try and cope with. 

“It is up to us, Jim, the staff, myself, Jonny Addis and Joe Gormley to really get these kids motivated again for Wednesday night, because we need European football.”

Before the weekend, the last time Cliftonville lost the Irish Cup final back in 2018, they recovered to gain European football through the playoffs. 

Hale wasn't part of that squad with Joe Gormley the last surviving member and if they are do  it again, he acknowledged the need to put in a performance. 

“It was before my time, I think Joe is the last player because he’s been here years,” recalled Hale. 

“It is up to us now to be dusting ourselves up, it’s not ideal and not what we wanted, but we’re in this situation. 

“No doubt Jim, Skin [Gerard Lyttle], and Ricky [McCann] will have a game plan for going to the Oval on Wednesday night and it’s up to us now to go and put a performance on and get a result.”

The 28-year-old would like to be in a reflective mood and use the weekend's defeat as motivation, but emphasised the need to bounce back despite going all the way to penalties on Saturday. 

“You’d like to sit down for a few days and reflect, but you can’t. You could sit there and go ‘it’s motivation for next year to go on and push on in the league and go for the Cups again’ but we really need to dust ourselves down and go again on Wednesday night,” he stressed. 

“As hard as that is going to be, because we just played 120 minutes, and to be fair, the quality wasn’t there today, but the effort was there, one million per cent. They ran themselves into the ground and Jonny Addis popping up with cramp and everything.”

Hale can recall only two seasons in his career that he has not had European football to look forward to and insisted that European football is a huge carrot for any player. 

“Every player wants to play European football,” he insists. 

“I think I've only not played European football for two seasons since I've been playing. I want to be playing European football. 

“Everybody wants to be playing and getting a big draw, getting a team away in Europe and competing against the best teams - that’s the main objective in playing in Europe. 

“Getting them European games, European opposition and testing yourselves on the biggest stage.”