Sports Direct Premiership: Portadown v Cliftonville (Saturday, 3pm)
Cliftonville may be in Linfield’s slipstream in the Sports Direct Premiership but there is room for improvement, says Reds boss Jim Magilton.
The Solitude team travel to Shamrock Park this afternoon trailing leaders Linfield by seven points at the halfway stage of the campaign.
Portadown are also flying high and a win for Niall Currie’s team today would see the Mid Ulster club join Cliftonville on 31 points.
The Reds stuttered earlier this season but in recent weeks have been stronger, dropping points in only two of their last nine games.
There is more to come, says Magilton as he assesses his team’s season so far.
“A bit like my school reports, could do better,” quipped the former international midfielder.
“To be second is great and we’re obviously aware of who is above us and around us and it’s very tight.
“We’d a lot of changes and it took players a bit more time than we anticipated to settle into the club and league.
“We’re striving for consistency like every other team is and we get bouts of it which is great.
“Then Ballymena, for example, come to Solitude, win 1-0 but you can’t lose faith.
“Once we got that consistency we had a spell where we played extremely well and there were one or two games where I felt we’d total control and saw games out in a controlled manner, so that gave us great confidence.
“I know we’re capable of more which is great - if I thought we were at the height of our powers then I’d worry.
“If you take last year and compare it to this year we weren’t as fluid in our play, but that comes down to new players bedding in too.
“We brought in a lot of players and it takes games to mould the team and for everybody to feel comfortable and see how each other plays.
“When we go to look at a player, we feel we’re selecting a player that will automatically come in and enhance the group and way we want to play, and that has certainly been the case, but it has just taken longer.
“I think we’re capable of more, there’s more to come from all the players and we’ll be looking to strengthen in January to make us better.”
Portadown have been one of the success stories of the season so far on their return to the top flight under Currie.
They have built on their promotion to the Premiership in the summer and Magilton was quick to praise his counterpart in the dugout.
“Niall is a person who has grown up around Portadown and the legends of Portadown and he’s desperate to do well.
“He has done a brilliant job and it’s no real surprise given his recruitment.
“He has bought really well with experienced players who know the league extremely well and they’re a very talented bunch.
“They’ve hit the ground running, have gelled well and they’ve been getting fantastic results.
“He will be looking forward to having Cliftonville come to Portadown on Saturday I’m sure.”
