CLIFTONVILLE manager Jim Magilton is hoping his team can put the disappointment of a second successive Cup Final defeat behind them them and kick on with new bodies coming in before the January window shuts.
The Reds head to The Oval on Sunday afternoon to take on Glentoran (2pm kick-off) in search of their first league victory in over a month.
In that time there have been big changes with Odhran Casey departing to Shelbourne, Tomas Lavery returning to parent club Sunderland and centre-half partner Jack Keaney is on his way to America, with Eric McWoods out for the remainder of the season through an injury sustained in their league defeat to Carrick Rangers last weekend.
That has left Magilton in a desperate search for reinforcements that he hopes will arrive before the window shuts.
“It's two [final defeats] on the bounce, it’s not nice and nice – it’s horrible, a quiet dressing room,” he explained.
“It is the league and that’s just it. This is the first trophy of the season. We’ve done quite well in reaching finals, now we’ve lost two on the bounce and it’s not nice. So we’ve got to go again.
The Reds will look to bounce back from two defeats within a week
“We’ve got to try and bounce back and hopefully we will. Its personnel and the window is still open and we desperately need bodies, there is no question.
“We’ve got lads out injured – Eric [McWoods] is out for the season. We’re looking to recruit and hopefully we can do that."
Pre-match on Tuesday, Magilton was hopeful that Keaney would be fit enough to make his last appearance before departing, though he was unable to feature with the Reds boss outlining the headache of losing three of a settled back five in the last few weeks.
“Jack Keaney obviously wasn’t fit and he is away as well,” Magilton revealed. “If you look at the back five, we lost Tommy [Tomas Lavery] and when we were having a good spell, that selection was pretty easy.
“You’d Tommy, Casey, Jonny and Jack Keaney and Keevo and a/n other. That is going to affect it, but at the end of day it gives someone else an opportunity.
“When someone else isn’t around the opportunity rests with those lads that have been chomping at the bit to come in and do their thing.
“Shaun Leppard had an average game on Saturday but actually played really well tonight. This league asks so many questions of you and puts so many demands on you. We’ve got to regroup and go again."
Although struggling with flu in the last week, Jonny Addis was able to last the ninety minutes and converted from the spot in the shoot-out with his manager full of praise for battling through illness to add some much needed experience.
“He’s a wonderful player and he has been brilliant for us and to be fair he’s not well, and to get off your sick bed and produce another performance like that,” Magilton added.
“It’s a young bench, we’re trying to grow young players at the football club and there is a lot of back slapping and high fives, and everyone is giving themselves pats on the back.
“Ultimately, when they play on our team there is a certain accountability too to them. We love them and we trust them. We just felt tonight we go with a little bit more experience and for large parts of the game that worked well for us.
“Maybe on another night you win that, but they [Carrick] kept going and sometimes the opposition deserves credit and we have to hand credit to them.
“I just thought we were so poor second half in terms of the ball, and that was so disappointing for me."
As well as changing the personnel from their weekend league defeat, Magilton also tried to change mentality and felt it worked until the second half when they were under the cosh for large spells.
“We started the game so well on Saturday and then we lost the game with the basics. Physical challenges, physical impact, not doing the basics, not working hard enough to close people down.
“We talked about that before the game and I thought it was a real physical battle in the first half but for me we didn’t play enough. We didn’t pass the ball enough. We didn’t show enough in areas when we’ve had an opportunity to play through them.
“Again, you have to credit the opposition because they work so hard and they deny you that. As I say, you only get one or two glimpses and that one opportunity at the death, we will rue. It was their night and you’ve just got to hand it to them."
Whilst not fully confident of bringing in further additions before the end of the window, Magilton insists he will be trying his utmost in a window that he isn’t a fan of.
“I’m never confident, but we will certainly be trying our utmost to do that,” Magilton insisted.
“I don’t particularly like this window. It’s a difficult one because you are trying to bed players in, that is always difficult because they’ve got to hit the ground running and you’ve got to be absolutely sure you’re getting the right ones in.
“Unless you can tempt players away, but again it is a really difficult situation and all managers feel the same way. We’re going to try our best and I think our squad needs a wee lift too and we’ll try and do that."
The Reds will look to bounce back from Tuesday's disappointing cup final loss with an away trip to the Oval this Sunday.
