CLIFTONVILLE manager Paddy McLaughlin insists that every team brings a new challenge to the previous week as his side welcome Portadown to Solitude at the weekend.

The Ports travel to Solitude on Saturday (3pm kick-off) looking to make it three wins on the spin and move off bottom spot in the table.

Niall Currie’s come into the game off the back of 1-0 win over Ballymena United at Shamrock Park and are in the process of appealing to the decision to deduct them three-points for an eligibility issue in their 3-1 win over Newry City the previous weekend.

McLaughlin believes the Mid-Ulster outfit will have a massive confidence boost, yet is backing his players to recover from their setbacks in recent weeks

“Every team in the league brings a new challenge and brings something different to what we’ve played the week before,” insists the Cliftonville manager.

“Portadown will do that, they’re coming off the back off back-to-back wins and I’m sure it will give everybody a massive boost at Portadown. We’ll prepare for yet another tough game because all games are tough.

“Sometimes people say on paper that it’s not, it’s three points, but there is no guarantee of three points against any team in this division.

“It proves it every week, it will be tough, and we’ve got to prepare for it, and we’ll recover from last week and go again on Saturday.”

Although McLaughlin admits he would have liked to return to action sooner in the aftermath of defeats against Ballymena United in the League and Coleraine on penalties in the Bet McLean Cup, the Derry native acknowledged that the break will afford players the opportunity to recover from knocks and niggles in their gruelling semi-final defeat.

“They’ve put so much into the game against Coleraine,” he reflected.

“They threw themselves into tackles and threw themselves into headers, they ran themselves into the ground for 120 minutes and you can’t fault their efforts.

“You see how much they put into it when they were coming out a lot of them patched up with icepacks and everything else.

“They deserve a few days, I’d have loved to be playing sooner to get up and running again, but we had to lick our wounds until Saturday. Our boys are raring to go against Portadown.”

Odhran Casey has caught the manager’s eye in recent weeks and McLaughlin believes there is a bright future ahead for many youngsters at the club.

“He’s been banging on the door for game time over the last couple of weeks,” McLaughlin revealed.

“When he was coming off the bench for us, you can see that he definitely has a bright future ahead of him in the game and he will be a top player in the club for a long time.

“He will probably end up captaining the club hopefully at some stage in his career because he has great leadership qualities for such a young boy.

“He put in a fantastic performance throughout his time on the pitch and scored a brilliant goal as well.

“That’s the thing about the club: they’ve got a lot of good young talent here and it’s a good experience for them.

“It’s not a good experience losing, but it’s a good experience playing in these situations and these games and big crowds. They’re getting stronger and stronger, year on year and the future in definitely bright at the club.”

Levi Ives also made his return from injury, coming off the bench in extra-time and McLaughlin expects the 10-day layoff will have helped the left-back to work on fitness and sharpness as he aims to get back into the starting 11.

“The 10-day break between games will probably suit him down to the ground,” McLaughlin predicts.

“It gives him time now to work on his fitness and sharpness, he’s been working really hard behind the scenes in the last couple of weeks. He got the all clear two weeks back to resume full training and he has been working hard behind the scenes like I say.

“Over the next 10 days, it is something he will be pushing to get into the starting eleven because we know how good he is, the fans know appreciate how good he is when he is at himself and he’s fit and playing regular. He is probably the best left-back in the country and it is brilliant boost for us.

“It was disappointing circumstances to see him coming back, but it’s a brilliant boost for us going into a tough festive period and New Year.”