Better nature

Jim Magilton says Cliftonville enter the new Sports Direct Premiership season with a simple target in mind – improvement.

Ahead of this afternoon’s sold out showdown with Portadown at Solitude, the Reds boss insists that the mantras and ideals that were adhered to last term must likewise be at the forefront of his team’s approach throughout the forthcoming campaign.

“We kept our messaging simple but consistent with the players last year and spoke about how we wanted to be a team that showed the same level of intensity without the ball as we showed when we had it,” he explains.

“That was the basis of everything we did and everything else came from there. It has to be the same again this season because without that, we can’t play the way we want to play.

“The aim is always to be better than we were before, be that from season to season or game to game. We always want to improve and I’ve always said that this is a League where you can’t stand still or you’ll quickly be overtaken.”

Though Portadown spent last season in the Playr-Fit Championship, Magilton did get a taste of what Niall Currie’s side are about when the teams locked horns in the quarter-finals of the Clearer Water Irish Cup and he expects a similarly committed test from the Mid-Ulster outfit today.

“The first game is always important and we’ve got a tough one against Portadown,” he adds.

“They’re newly promoted and they’ve recruited very well with a number of experienced players but ones with good quality too. I was impressed with them last year but they’ve added to what they had and improved on that. They have a Manager who will put demands on them and they’ll be eager to hit the ground running back in the top flight.

“Our own season obviously began a few weeks ago and, as disappointed as we were with our European results, the concentration and application of the players in terms of how we want to play encouraged me and now we want to present ourselves and build on that now that the League’s starting.”

All home end tickets for today’s game have been sold, with supporters who missed out on a seat advised that the match will be broadcast live on the BBC Sport NI website and iPlayer.

Season Ticket holders are, meanwhile, reminded of the necessity to collect their plastic cards because without them, access through the turnstiles will be denied, with QR codes on mobile devices no longer permissible. Anyone who has yet to pick up their Season Ticket can do so from the Social Club between 12.30pm-2.30pm.

Supporters information
Cliftonville v Portadown (3pm)
All home end tickets sold
Members Tickets and Season Tickets valid