Jim Magilton warns his Cliftonville players to prepare for a 'tough week'

A picture of Cliftonville boss Jim Magilton
-Credit: (Image: Inpho/Stephen Hamilton)


Jim Magilton is planning a "tough week" for his Cliftonville as they bid to iron out what went wrong against Ballymena United.

Magilton was less than impressed with his side's display in the 3-2 defeat to the in-form Sky Blues on Saturday. The Reds boss branded it as "lacklustre and lethargic" as Jim Ervin's men took all three points.

It was doubly disappointing for Magilton after his side's impressive display against Linfield in the lead up to the weekend's game. With Larne next up for Cliftonville on Friday night Magilton is glad to time on the training pitch to put things right again.

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"It was a bit like after the Lord Mayor's Show," said Magilton. "You're going into the game thinking we have to kick on, we have to really lay down a marker – but we were so far off it, it was unbelievable.”

“It was so lacklustre, it was so lethargic. Even when we got ourselves back into the game, I thought we’d kick on and we didn’t. There was a lack of urgency, a lack of real quality and we gave the ball away so cheaply.

"We didn't deserve it, Ballymena did and it's as simple as that. There's a lot of soul searching to be done now before we play Larne.

"I definitely need a full week with them. There's a few things that we need to iron out. It's Larne now and obviously they will be coming off the back of a great win over Glentoran so we know the challenge we will face there. It will be a tough week for the players."

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