CLIFTONVILLE manager Jim Magilton is adamant that there will be no slacking from his players ahead of the visit of newly promoted Loughgall on Saturday.
The Lakeview Park outfit make the trip to Solitude (3pm kick-off) looking to build upon their 1-0 win over champions Larne on Tuesday evening.
Dean Smith’s side have already left North Belfast with a point this season, despite going down to 10-men they claimed a 1-1 draw at Seaview and Magilton insists they will give last season’s Championship winners the respect they are due.
“Players run changing rooms, managers come in and coaches come in to facilitate that and give them the support and there will definitely be no slacking,” Magilton insists.
“That is not on the cards. We will come back down to earth very quickly. It’s a long season and we will give Loughgall all the respect they are due. We’ll work as equally as hard on Loughgall as we do for every other club that comes here and every league match, we do. We’re pretty diligent with that.”
Magilton was present for Loughgall’s 3-1 win at the Ballymena Showgrounds recently and was impressed with the Armagh club’s counterattacking play.
“I watched them at Ballymena and in the first half they went in disappointed going a goal behind,” he recalled.
“In the second half, they came out of the blocks and they were excellent. They played on the counterattack and on another day, they probably would have won more. I walked away completely devastated because we had Ballymena next.
“We did a professional job against Ballymena and we’re going to have to go and present ourselves again on Saturday. Tonight was a great night for us. We’ll enjoy it, but it’s done now. It’s three points and that’s all we get.”
A week of change at the top of the table 👀#SportsDirectPrem pic.twitter.com/7WVJ496nx7
— NI Football League (@OfficialNIFL) September 27, 2023
The Reds are going into the weekend encounter on the back of three straight victories and with confidence after their 5-0 demolition of Coleraine at Solitude on Tuesday evening.
Magilton admits he wasn’t happy with his side’s first half display but praised their decision making in a rampant second half showing.
“In terms of our quality, in the first half we got into really good areas and were poor,” he admitted.
“Our final ball, our decision making and passing. The players understood that and in the second half they were fabulous. The choice of pass and their quality was outstanding. When you get into those areas to have to go cold and really ice-cool. We did and obviously we scored some wonderful goals tonight.”
Joe Gormley and Ben Wilson continued their fantastic respective starts to the campaign with Gormley claiming a hat-trick in his first start since sustaining an injury in August and Wilson making it nine goals in nine, much to the delight of their boss.
“I’ve always watched him [Joe] from afar and thought he was a fantastic player,” Magilton acknowledged.
“Working with him now is just wonderful for me because I just know his quality. Even in training, his finishing is magnificent, and goals tonight just sums him up.
“He was unlucky again with hitting the crossbar. His first moments, you felt he was bang at it tonight and he certainly was.
“I don’t really want to talk too much about Ben Wilson. I’ve known Ben a lifetime and I knew he would score goals and he hasn’t disappointed.
“The less we say about Ben Wilson, the better. He is hungry and ambitious, and we’ve given him a platform to go and play.
“He loves it and the fans love him - they’ve got a hero in Ben now. It’s wonderful because both of them sharing five goals in a fantastic achievement and we’ve got to wrap them in cotton wool.”