Down to business

Paddy McLaughlin insists there’s no chance of Cliftonville underestimating Portadown’s threat when the sides lock horns at Shamrock Park tomorrow.

While the Reds are bidding to claim a fourth Danske Bank Premiership victory in a row, Paul Doolin’s side are still in search of their first point amid a challenging run of fixtures that has pitted them against five of last season’s top six in the opening weeks of the campaign.

McLaughlin believes tackling those tasks will only serve to make the Ports better and says that dismissing the hosts’ capabilities would be playing into their hands.

“It’s easy to look at a League table right now and make your mind up about any team but you have to look at what Portadown have been up against,” he explains.

“They’ve been given a seriously tough start in terms of the fixtures and, on top of that, they made a lot of signings over the summer so it’s a new team that’s coming together and they’ll have been improving with every game. Plus, you have to look at their Manager – Paul Doolin knows what’s what and you can never go into a match against one of his teams thinking it’s going to be straightforward because you’ll end up getting turned over.

“We remember from last season how dangerous Portadown can be, especially playing at Shamrock Park. We had it so, so tough down there and all the top sides found it really difficult so we’ll be expecting more of the same. They’re not a team to be taken lightly.

“Even in their game against Glentoran last week, you could see it was coming together in parts for Portadown so that’s something they’ll take confidence from and look to build on.

“We’re confident in ourselves too, though. We’ve been winning games without always being at our very best and, though we’ve been disappointed with some of the goals we’ve conceded, the boys have found different ways to win and that’s a good thing to have in your locker.”

Portadown v Cliftonville
All-ticket
Adults: £12
Concessions: £8
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