Our season is still building: Lindsay

Kris Lindsay insists it’s vital that the disappointment of losing to Glentoran last night does not distract Cliftonville from the opportunities that remain up for grabs this season.

The Reds fell to their first home defeat in four months when two second-half goals earned the visitors victory on a disappointing evening at Solitude, but Lindsay – for whom it was a first loss since joining Paddy McLaughlin’s backrooom set-up – says the bigger picture provides cause for optimism.

“It’s a disappointing result but it’s our first defeat in I don’t know how long. It’s that old footballing cliche about never getting too high when you win and not getting too low when you lose,” he said.

“I don’t think we did enough to win the game but I don’t think we deserved to lose it. It was one of those games where it was frantic, there wasn’t really much quality play from either team. I thought we actually got the ball down a little bit better after we conceded but then we tried to force things a little bit too much too early but we’ll learn from it.

“Of course the players are disappointed and frustrated – and that’s a good thing – but what’s important is that we pick ourselves up and go again on Saturday against Carrick. It’s another difficult game but it’s one where we’ll be targeting three points.”

Asserting that there remains plenty to play for in spite of last night’s reverse, Lindsay added: “There are six League games left and there are going to be plenty more twists and turns. Teams are going to take points off eachother. Our season is still building and we want to finish as high as we can – whether that be automatic European qualification or finishing as high up as we can to get a home tie in the Play-Offs.

“The boys are disappointed but it’s important they don’t get too down. We have massive games coming up and the good thing about the League this year is that you always have games coming thick and fast, so we’ve now turned our full focus to Carrick on Saturday.

“As I said to the players, in this League you’re right to be disappointed to lose games and it’s right that you don’t like it, but it’s important you don’t lose two games in a row, so we’ll get the spirits lifted, we’ll have a good session on Thursday and we’ll be ready to go again against Carrick, try to get another three points on the board and hopefully move closer to the teams above us.”