HOLDERS Cliftonville secured their place in the final of the Clearer Water Irish Cup on May 3 with a comfortable 3-0 win over Ards in Friday evening's semi-final at Windsor Park.
CLIFTONVILLE boss Jim Magilton believes that Ards have already shown they are more than capable of a cup upset from their previous encounter this season.
GERARD LYTTLE maintains the next game is important for Cliftonville as they target a seventh-placed league finish to secure a spot in the European playoffs at the end of the season.
Goals from Finn Azaz and Matt Doherty saw Ireland come from behind in Plovdiv to take a 2-1 lead into Sunday's Nations League B playoff second leg against Bulgaria.
CLIFTONVILLE assistant manager Gerard Lyttle isn’t interested in his side entertaining and is entirely focused on them returning to winning ways in their last chance bid to keep their top-six hopes on track.
CLIFTONVILLE’s top six hopes hang by a thread after they suffered a second successive league defeat in a matter of days and were leapfrogged by Ballymena United after a 1-0 defeat at the Ballymena Showgrounds on Saturday afternoon.
The race to secure a top-six finish in the Premiership continues as Cliftonville travel to Ballymena United on Saturday (3pm) with both sides keen not to lose further ground.
CLIFTONVILLE suffered a cup final hangover, which has dented their top-six hopes after crashing to a 2-0 defeat at home to Dungannon Swifts at Solitude on Wednesday evening.
CLIFTONVILLE manager Jim Magilton insists that focus must switch to securing a top-six spot in the aftermath of their League Cup triumph at the weekend.
JIM MAGILTON revealed that the send-off his side receives from their supporters makes cup finals feel special and believes it is a reminder to new players what the club is all about.
CLIFTONVILLE captain Rory Hale paid tribute to his teammates for how they have reacted in recent months to the loss of Michael Newberry and revealed that the special pre-game tribute touched the squad ahead of Sunday's final.
