CLIFTONVILLE boss Jim Magilton is hoping that his side can pick up where they left off on their last visit to Loughgall as they return at the weekend.

The Reds make the trip to Lakeview Park on Saturday afternoon (3pm kick-off) looking to make it two wins from two in the Armagh village.

Prior to Christmas, the Solitude outfit registered a 4-1 victory and knocked Dean Smith’s side out of the Irish Cup at Solitude last month, but Magilton isn’t expecting an easy task against a side he admires for their brand of football this season.

“Im totally hoping for the same, of course,” admits Magilton.

“I’ve huge respect for what they do up there. Dean Smith deserves so much credit. Their team, they are a fantastic advert.

“For a team that has come up from the Championship and played in the manner in which they’ve played. They’ll get our full respect and we will go and present ourselves again.”

Magilton is delighted to go into Saturday’s game off the back of their Irish Cup victory over Portadown at the beginning of the month and was pleased their due diligence in the preparation paid off.

“We gave them the same merit as we gave everybody,” he revealed.

“We had to do our homework and our due diligence and it paid off in the end. That is the result of hard work.

“It was going to be a hard game regardless. I was just over the moon for the players.”

With a break from competitive action at the weekend, Magilton acknowledged that it was an opportunity to rest some injured bodies and assess where players at ahead of the run-in and is pleased that Ben Wilson will return to action after over a month out with a calf concern.

“It was a big chance, absolutely,” said Magilton.

“We did that. A lot of the lads have played a lot of minutes.

“What we want to do, we want to be consistent in our selection and consistent in terms of our methods.

“It was a week to regroup and look at everybody. There was a few tired legs and a few injured bodies and getting everybody back.

“Ben Wilson will be back for Loughgall, so we’re absolutely delighted with that. That’s just adds to our bench.

“Our bench has got stronger. If you look at our bench against Portadown, it was a really strong bench.”