Matching up again

Jim Magilton has lauded his squad’s application levels ahead of this evening’s North Belfast Derby duel with Crusaders.

The Seaview showdown is the third of five consecutive away matches as Cliftonville bid to tackle a hectic fixture backlog that has long seen them playing catch-up on every other team in the Sports Direct Premiership.

As well as dealing with the various injury and suspension issues that traditionally impact upon selection at this stage of the season, Magilton has also been carefully managing his players’ minutes to guard against burnout – and says that everybody being ready to step up and perform has been a key feature of recent performances.

“We can’t control the weather, so we can’t control when our games get postponed but what we can control is how we deal with the schedule that’s thrown up,” explained the Reds boss.

“We’ve seen players in the team, then out of the team and all sorts of changes because we have to make sure we utilise the whole group. There’s no point in having a squad if we’re not going to delve into it in situations like this.

“It’s been two games a week for quite a while now and we’ve still got more to come, so we’re being stretched but I have to say the players have been fantastic in how they’ve gone about things. If we look leggy in certain games, you have to say that’s understandable because it’s just one match after another in a very short space of time for us.

“The players have given us everything during what has been a relentless run of games and I know they’re chomping at the bit to go again.”

Crusaders v Cliftonville
Tuesday, March 10
Tickets: Sold out
Tickets purchased for December 9 fixture valid
All supporters accommodated in the fonaCAB Stand