Friendly fire

Barry Gray is looking forward to a competitive encounter with Newington and believes tomorrow’s friendly will help Cliftonville gear up for the imminent return of the Danske Bank Premiership.

The Reds kick their new campaign off against Ards next week and Gray expects a fired-up Newington to keep his players on their toes.

“There will be feistiness in it, like any local derby,” he explains.

“Any side that comes into Solitude and are from the area are going to want to make themselves look good. We will have a mixed reaction in terms of our take from the game – we want to get our finishes and last wee bits and pieces out of the way.”

“But it’s also seven days before the Ards game, so we will be looking at it through closed fingers to make sure that we can keep everyone fit through the match.

“While the feistiness of the game will be good in one aspect, it will be worrying in another. If we go out and put performances in like we did against Shelbourne last week, I don’t think we will have to worry too much about it and it will give us the opportunity to maybe use the full panel and get them their last few minutes.”

Live coverage

Don’t forget our new @RedsByTheMinute account will be tweeting live commentary from Solitude for supporters unable to attend the match.

Admission information

Entrance to this fixture can be obtained through cash payments at the turnstiles.

Adult: £5
Concessions: £3

Cliftonville Members Tickets, Season Tickets and Family Tickets are not valid for this match.