DESPITE losing their opening four league encounters and crashing out of the Mid-Ulster Cup after defeat to nearest rivals Glenavon on Tuesday evening, Cliftonville boss Jim Magilton is expecting Portadown to put up a challenge at Solitude on Saturday.
Magilton will also be hopeful that his side can return to winning ways after back-to-back league defeats, though they come into the weekend's clash off the back of a comfortable 4-0 win over Knockbreda in the County Antrim Shield.
“They [Portadown] are coming to come here as every team does and present themselves and put up challenges" Magilton believes. “The one thing I commend the players in this league, they dust themselves down very quickly and they approach the game in the same sort of positive attitude.
“They are going to ask serious questions and we’ve just got to be able to answer those and come out with what we’ve got”.
It is the first time that Magilton will face-off against Ports boss David Jeffrey and he is full of praise for the 63-year-old multiple League and Cup winning counterpart.
“He is a legend of the game in the Irish League. He has this incredible record and it shows you the desire and passion for a person and a man who has won everything and still has that passion and desire to stand on the touchline. That tells you everything about what he thinks about the game too."
Magilton was pleased with his players' attitude and intensity in Tuesday evening's victory against Knockbreda and was pleased the much-changed XI carried out his pre-game message.
“You have to applaud the attitude and the intensity the players played at tonight,” Magilton reflected.
“That was the message going out. They did and carried that out. Joe and Joel set the tone. Liam just needed a bit more confidence and goals, and he provided that and Joe obviously comes up with what Joe does.
“Overall, really pleased with the whole attitude of the squad, attitude of the players and now we have to get ready for Saturday."
Victory did come at a cost, however, with half-time substitute Aaron Wightman forced off after turning his ankle, with his manager unable to confirm at this early stage how long the defender could be facing on the sidelines.
He added: “Knockbreda came and presented themselves and deserve an awful lot of credit for that. For us, it was about getting more minutes into lads who hadn’t had minutes and that was important”.
Kick-off at Solitude on Saturday is 3pm.
