NEWRY City will use the influence of legends Roy Keane and Brian Clough to get them out of trouble at the foot of the Playr-Fit Championship.
So says assistant manager Raymond Byrne, who has seen and done it all as a player with a stint under Clough at Nottingham Forest – at a time when Keane was a rising star at the City Ground – before the Newry man returned home to make his mark in Ronnie McFall’s trailblazing Portadown side.
Newry slipped out of the top flight at the end of last season and are only off the foot of the Championship on goal difference from Newington, who have two matches in hand.
But Byrne, ahead of Saturday’s trip to the Brandywell to take on Institute, insists: “The players are up for the fight. We still have 33 points to play for – 11 games to go – so the challenge is still there.
“It’s been a difficult few months, we’ve had to replace six senior players. It’s now about getting the younger lads more game time and getting them to understand what we need from them.
“We still have a lot to play for and we are up for the challenge,” adds Byrne, part of the backroom team when Darren Mullen returned to the Showgrounds earlier this season with Newry already deep in relegation trouble.
At the other end of the table, Bangor are six points clear of second-placed Limavady, while the Welders are a further two points back but with a game in hand.
On Saturday, the Roesiders host Ards, while the Welders make the short but tricky trip to east Belfast neighbours Dundela in the only 2pm match (all others 3pm).
Bangor tackle Ballinamallard at Clandeboye Park, Newington face Armagh City at Larne’s Inver Park and Annagh United welcome Ballyclare Comrades to the BMG Arena.