Positive vibes

Jim Magilton had plenty of positives to accentuate from a “fantastic workout” in last night’s Action Mental Health Charity Shield tie with Larne.

Though defeated 2-1 – the Reds’ first ever loss in the pre-season curtain-raiser – Magilton was pleased with his side’s endeavours either side of Ryan Corrigan’s opening goal, with Ryan Curran’s return from injury after a 14 month lay-off the obvious highlight.

“The big positives for us are Ryan Corrigan scoring and Ryan Curran back on the pitch,” he said.

“We also gave a really good performance in terms of our discipline and in terms of our workout and getting minutes into the legs of players.

“We got Ryan Curran back on the pitch which is huge for us and we’ll try to get more game-time into him and build on that.”

While thrilled to welcome Curran back, there was concern when Rory Hale was forced off the field after being on the receiving end of a hefty Baris Altintop challenge but Magilton – who takes his players to Ballybofey for a friendly with Finn Harps tomorrow – believes the team’s busy schedule can stand them in good stead.

“I thought the referee handled the game really well,” he added.

“On another day, he might have flashed one or two yellow cards here and there but I thought the game was played in really good spirit and both teams worked extremely hard. I thought it was a fantastic workout for us.

“Odhran Casey’s still injured, Kris Lowe’s still injured and we’re trying to get bodies back as fast as we can. We’re going to have to be creative on Sunday.

“We’ve packed the games in but if you ask any lad if they want to come and train or play a game, they’ll always want to play.”

Last night’s contest was, of course, valuable preparation for both sides’ forthcoming European commitments and, with less than a week until Cliftonville’s prospective opponents FK Auda and B36 contest the opening leg of their Conference League first qualifying round tie, Magilton is confident his side will be in good shape for whatever challenge lies in store.

“We’ll go into the games knowing it’s going to be difficult but we’re certainly looking forward to it,” he said,

“It’s the first time I’ll manage in Europe so I can’t wait and the players are excited too, and we’ll be set up to try and win, as we always do.”