Jaim changer

Jaimie McGovern admits Cliftonville let themselves down over the holiday period but, rather than simply working harder, asserts that they have to smart working smarter – starting with tomorrow’s Tennent’s Irish Cup Fifth Round encounter with Dungannon Swifts.

The Reds enter the contest on the back of four straight defeats, the most recent of which got 2019 off to a slack start when defensive mishaps contributed to a heavy defeat at Coleraine on New Year’s Day and McGovern has called for cool heads to deal with the situation.

“We keep talking about reactions and reactions… but that’s not enough,” says the 29-year-old.

“We’re all not doing enough individually and collectively there’s nothing there. Everybody says we need to work harder but I don’t think that’s the case. We need to keep trying to play and play – we’re panicking and firing long balls into Joe Gormley and it’s not his game and the ball is back down at us.

“If we can put a bit of a run together in the Irish Cup then suddenly things start to look up again.”

You can read the full McGovern interview in tomorrow’s edition of our Matchday Magazine, which will be on sale at Solitude for £2.50.

Alongside your latest player poster, The Red Eye’s 17th issue of the campaign reflects on the Swifts’ Cup prospects and steps 56, 45 and 28 years back down memory lane – plus plenty more besides.

Our Matchday Magazine has attained a top-three position in the NI Football Programme Collectors’ annual awards poll for the last seven seasons – assuming the runners-up position on six of those occasions – so, if you’re not a regular reader, why not take a look at what you’ve been missing out on?

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