CLIFTONVILLE assistant manager Gerard Lyttle has called on the players to carry their momentum forward as they take on Ballymena United at the weekend.

The Sky Blues make the trip to Solitude on Saturday afternoon (3pm kick-off) hoping for a fifth successive win against the hosts this season.

Victory would draw United level on points with Cliftonville in the race for seventh and a place in the European playoffs at the end of the season, but Lyttle is backing the Solitude side to carry on their recent upturn in fortune.

“We spoke about the importance of momentum, staying at it, training hard, managing and being smart and I think we did that against Carrick,” Lyttle reflected.

“You saw with the starting line-up, we took Joe and Rory out and one or two others that we didn’t want to risk.

“That’s no discredit to the boys that went on and played because I thought we were excellent.

“It’s not easy with some players not having the amount of minutes in their legs. I thought Micheál came in tonight and done really well; young Stephen McGuinness came on at half time – it’s not easy for him and again, he’s been a player that has had to be very patient.

“He’s come and he was excellent. It’s about a squad and making sure that we all stick together and that’s what we’ve done.

“We’ve a really good group of players and a tight changing room, and that stands by you- especially at this stage of the season.”

Lyttle was full of praise for the impact of their substitutes in Tuesday evening’s comeback win at Carrick Rangers, especially following a tricky start to the game.

“The substitutes are something that has went and worked in our favour, especially in the games of late,” he acknowledged.

“The semi-final was the same, the two subs came on and scored, and again tonight, the two subs came on and scored.

“That’s something we preach to the players. They’re on the bench but we want them to come on and make a massive impact and make a difference and be ready- we always state that.

“You’ve got to credit the lads coming on. It’s not easy coming on, especially on a Tuesday night down here at Carrick and again, they’ve got to get special credit.

“They’ve dug deep, they could have went with the heads down after conceding and they’ve dug in.”

Eric McWoods netted his first goal since arriving at the end of January in their midweek win and Lyttle credited the striker for his patience in getting up to speed.

“It's never easy coming in - January is a tough window,” Lyttle acknowledged.

“Especially for Eric, who has come in and hasn’t had a proper pre-season. He’s always playing catch up, and again we’ve had to manage that with Erc.

“He’s been patient, he is top pro, he looks after himself and looks after body. He was ready tonight to come on and he came on and scored a really good goal in terms of a counterattack.

“His pace showed what he has, one of his strengths is lightning pace - but his composure to go and finish was excellent and I’m really delighted for Eric.”

Joe Gormley also got in on the act in the process brought his tally for the season to 20 as he homes in on his target of 300 career goals, with Lyttle struggling for words to describe the legendary attacker.

“He is incredible, he really is,” Lyttle began.

“You lose words to say and describe what Joe is, he is just everything that a centre-forward can dream of and he is manager’s dream.

“He sat and watched the game and Joe does what he does, he scores. I’ve always been a big fan of Joe. I’m close to him and I just love seeing him going out there and gracing the field and doing what he does best in scoring goals.

“More importantly, you saw how unselfish he was in setting up on Friday. That’s what Joe is about, he’s got that in him. He is a top pro, a top player and more importantly, he is really a top, top human being.”