Cliftonville vs Larne: Gerard Lyttle has 'no sympathy' for champions as he prepares for Solitude test
Gerard Lyttle insists he has 'no sympathy' for Larne's hectic fixture schedule as his Reds prepare to face the champions at Solitude.
Tiernan Lynch's side face the daunting prospect of five games in 12 days as they look to navigate their way through the Premiership, BetMcLean Cup, Co Antrim Shield and UEFA Conference League.
Friday night's clash also arrives just three days after Larne defeated Loughgall 2-0 to move into eighth in the table, three points behind Cliftonville but with two games in hand.
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Much has been made of the champions playing catch-up this season, and their busy fixture schedule after reaching the league phase of the UEFA Conference League.
But for Cliftonville assistant manager Lyttle, it is a price of success he wished his side had to deal with.
He said: "I don't read much into people talking about Larne being behind in games and all that. Again, you have to credit Larne for what they have achieved. It has been unbelievable, and great for the league. So full credit to them.
"But they have to manage that. They have worked towards having a type of squad which can handle playing in Europe and the league.
"Do I feel sorry for them? Absolutely not, not one bit. If anything I envy them in terms of where they are.
"It is something we will always look to emulate. Hopefully one day we can get to the great heights of where Larne are."
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With just one win in their last five league games, Lyttle accepts his side need more consistency if they want to be genuine title contenders.
Included in that run were defeats to Glentoran and Ballymena United.
"As staff and coaching staff you want to hit that consistency, and quickly. We haven't got there yet but we are seeing signs," he added.
"The mood after last week wasn't good. We were really disappointed. And rightly so.
"We set standards and drive them week in, week out. And we dropped a little bit last Saturday. But credit to Ballymena who had a good game plan.
"Probably the Loughgall game was the first time we saw everything clicking, and then I think the game against Linfield we played some good football and dominated possession without threatening the opposition goal.
"It is a work in progress at the minute, and the players are working so hard. We can't fault them. We are putting in the preparation for every game.
"If we continue doing that and driving high standards, which are set by the players, then we will be in a very good place as a football club.
"Friday night will be a tough test, and a completely different game to the Ballymena one. We went to Ballymena who sat off us a little bit.
"Larne play similar to ourselves and like to press and try to dominate possession. It is a game we are looking forward to and we will learn so much from it."
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