Daze in the week

Jim Magilton admits a busy week has put greater demand on his players but he still expects Cliftonville to show what they’re about when they welcome Dungannon Swifts to Solitude tomorrow.

The Sports Direct Premiership tie will be the Reds’ third outing in seven days, with Wednesday’s BetMcLean Cup victory over Strabane Athletic coming off the back of a goalless draw with Linfield on Sunday, but Magilton won’t go looking for excuses as he plots what would be an important win.

“It’s Sunday-Wednesday-Saturday for us this week and it’s a tough but we’ll regroup, we’ll obviously have a body count after Wednesday night and take it from there,” he said.

“It’s a very quick turnaround and we’re up against a team that always seem to enjoy coming to Solitude and performing.”

While Cliftonville survived a scare against Premier Intermediate League opposition in midweek, the Swifts weren’t so fortunate when they exited the BetMcLean Cup at the hands of Moyola Park – a situation that Magilton expects will add fuel to the visitors’ fire tomorrow.

“Rodney McAree will use that as motivation,” he added.

“They’ve played well here over the last couple of seasons but we’ve got to take care of business. We’ve got to make sure that we get everybody up and ready for the game.

“We will be ready for the game and then it’s how we present ourselves on the day.”

Cliftonville v Dungannon Swifts
Saturday, November 8 (3pm)
Adults: £15
Concessions: £10
Tickets: General Sale
Members Tickets and Season Tickets valid