IT’S a return to Solitude for Cliftonville on Saturday as they host Ballymena United hoping to get back to winning ways.

Reds’ manager Paddy McLaughlin believes that Ballymena have momentum and confidence after their recent upturn in the form.

The Sky Blues visit Solitude on Saturday afternoon (3pm kick-off) hoping to make it three league wins on the bounce.

McLaughlin is wary of the threat United carry but insists it is a game he and his players are looking forward to.

“That’s what victories do for you, it builds momentum and builds confidence,” he notes.

“Ballymena always are tough. David Jeffrey is one of the best managers in the league this season and he doesn’t have bad players or bad teams around him. They’re always a strong side and always dangerous opponents. It’ll be tough, but it’s one we look forward to.”

After a run of five away fixtures on the trot in November, McLaughlin is delighted to be back in home comforts at Solitude and acknowledges it has been a tough couple of weeks on the road.

“We were starting to forget what Solitude looks like,” he joked after Tuesday's draw at Larne.

“We haven’t been there for a while. For five games away from home, it was tough but a great return - only one defeat in five away games and three of them against three title contenders. People have strongly fancied any of the three teams in our last three games to win the league.

“We’re delighted and glad we came through it, we’ve no injuries and a couple coming back from injury and valuable points on board.

“It’s been a tough couple of weeks but very valuable for us as well and we look forward to getting back to Solitude. We know what the fans are like. They were brilliant here tonight again and hopefully they’ll do what they’ve done all year. They’ll be out in their numbers, and they’ll have the boys well fired up for Saturday’s game.”

The Reds boss has called for the backing of the fans in a busy December that sees two semi-finals and a festive North Belfast derby with Crusaders at home and is adamant the fans can play their part.

“With two semi-finals coming up in December it’s good times for the club,” admits McLaughlin.

“We’re sitting in a really strong position in the league and everybody has played their part: the staff, the players, and the fans. Hopefully they keep continuing to play their part and keep sticking behind us.

“You saw them there tonight, whenever you’re under a bit of pressure and you see the fans and hear the fans encourage and drive you on, it makes a massive difference so fair play to them tonight - they played their part and hopefully they’ll continue to do that in this big month.

“Six games, five of them at home, two semi-finals and a North Belfast derby. There are some massive games and hopefully they’ll stick with us.”

Reflecting on Tuesday evening's draw with Larne, McLaughlin praised Levi Ives for his stunning opener and felt the players stood up and were counted under the pressure that Larne threw at them in the aftermath of their equaliser.

“It was a great free-kick from Levi,” McLaughlin reflected.

“When you come here, you know Larne are going to have possession of the ball because they’re very good at it.

“Tiernan (Lynch) is good at what he does, he gets them playing out from the back. If you lose your shape in any way they can pop it round you.

“I thought we did really well early in the game. I know they had plenty of the ball, but I don’t think we were under any real pressure.

“To take the lead against the run of play, I think it gave us a lift and we probably dominated periods of the game where we didn’t think that Larne would give us as much of the ball. Over the course of the game, it was a fair point. We were playing against a strong wind in the second half and the wind definitely picked up as the game went on.

“Larne had the momentum of equalising and you’re a wee bit fearful, but I thought the boys stood up to the challenge really well. They defended really well, they worked their socks off right throughout the pitch and when we broke and got control of the ball. I think we could have had a second ourselves and stole it.

“We’d a couple of chances late on, but I’m delighted with the performance. It was real hard work and in tough enough conditions, very similar to Saturday’s game. It was mentally challenging coming here after such a tough game on Saturday so physically and mentally we’ve passed the test and we’ll move onto Saturday.”