Cole lot better for Magilton

Jim Magilton says maintaining a positive message has been key to lifting confidence in the Cliftonville dressing room.

The Reds got back to winning ways with last night’s 2-1 defeat of Coleraine at Solitude, where Joe Gormley’s double earned a first victory in six Sports Direct Premiership outings.

Throughout that barren spell, the Manager often spoke about belief levels being dented among the squad but explained that a reminder of their quality helped them set about their task in encouraging fashion last night.

“We made subtle changes to the way we set up and the players took that on board,” he said.

“Tactically, I thought they were brilliant. Physically, they just emptied the tank and that’s the standard and that’s what we have to do.

“It was about reinforcing the message that ‘you’re good players’ and we’re a good team, in my opinion. We are better than what we have shown and we needed to give our supporters a lift because they’re not used to this in terms of how we have been playing. Hands up, we haven’t played particularly well, albeit we’ve been in near enough every game we’ve played in, but it’s been disappointing.

“In the first-half, we’re obviously disappointed with the goal we conceded but it was about reinforcing the positives of our group and letting them go out and express themselves. I thought we did that better in the second-half. There were periods in the game where we controlled the tempo and flow and got back to a way where we could manage the game.

“We were dangerous and had more opportunities to see the game out. We didn’t take them, which always makes for a nervy ending.”

While pleased with his side’s performance and return to winning ways, Magilton – who lost Sean Stewart to a thigh complaint in the countdown to kick-off – confirmed that the injury Shaun Leppard sustained in Saturday’s draw with Glenavon appears to have ended his campaign.

“We’re going to be without Shaun Leppard for the rest of the season,” he said.

“He’s broken his fib and he’s dislocated his ankle. Unfortunately, it looks like it’s a long-term thing for him but obviously, our duty of care is to the player and making sure the operation and whatever else needs done and we’ll wish him a speedy recovery.”