A Col for improvement

Gerard Lyttle says Cliftonville must prioritise substance over style as they chase a victory against Coleraine by any means this evening.

The Reds travel to The Showgrounds for their fourth game in a gruelling nine day period bidding to get back to winning ways after consecutive defeats in the Sports Direct Premiership, with Assistant Manager Lyttle saying their only objective is to emerge with full points.

“All we can do right now is work hard,” he explained.

“It’s another tight turnaround from one game to the next and we have to make sure we’re ready for another test.

“The games are coming thick and fast with so many to play in such a short space of time and we’re not getting too long on the training pitch at the minute. It’s mainly been about recovery which makes it difficult to fit in all our preparation, but we have to put a team out that will try to win the game.”

Having praised the team’s impressive first-half performance in last Wednesday’s loss to Dungannon Swifts, Lyttle saw only sporadic flashes of quality in Saturday’s reverse at the hands of Ballymena United and, though he knows the levels Cliftonville are capable of reaching, he insists the result is all that matters tonight.

“At this stage, entertainment doesn’t do anything for me,” he added.

“As long as we win the game, I think that has to be the attitude and mental set-up – just go and try to win the game.

“The last two performances haven’t been good enough and it’s all about making sure we do whatever we can to get the win.”

Coleraine v Cliftonville
Tuesday, March 18 (7.45pm)
Adults: £15
Concessions: £10
Primary School age: £5
Tickets: General Sale