Happy hunter

Paddy McLaughlin says the competitive nature of the Danske Bank Premiership’s post-split schedule means “anything can happen” in a pivotal final fortnight.

Cliftonville signed off from their home commitments in the League with a 0-0 draw against Larne yesterday, seven days after a similar stalemate with Linfield, and the Manager is content with his side’s standing as the programme draws to a close.

“I didn’t come into the Larne game feeling any more pressure and I’m pretty sure the players didn’t either,” he explained.

“The only pressure is because you want to win the game, but Larne are a very good side and it’s always close against them.

“The two teams were cancelling each other out. We hit the bar and they had one cleared off the line. I thought we were the ones pushing for the winner and I’m disappointed we just didn’t have that little bit of quality we needed to break down Larne.

“There will be twists and turns still to come. A lot can happen in the next games and I’m sure it will. Hopefully we’ll be ready when it does.

“The position we’re in now, we’ve been in all season. We’re the hunter, we’re aiming to hunt down the team above us.

“We’re the underdog and we have been all season. If Linfield slip up, hopefully we’ll be in the position to catch them but we’re no worse off than we were before the weekend.

“Everyone has tough games coming up in these next few weeks and anything can happen. We just want to collect as many points as we can.”