Soccer

Cliftonville could welcome back Tomas Cosgrove for Coleraine joust

RETURN...Tomas Cosgrove could make his first appearance since suffering a head injury in Cliftonville's 3-2 win over Linfield last month Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press
RETURN...Tomas Cosgrove could make his first appearance since suffering a head injury in Cliftonville's 3-2 win over Linfield last month Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press RETURN...Tomas Cosgrove could make his first appearance since suffering a head injury in Cliftonville's 3-2 win over Linfield last month Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press

Danske Bank Premiership: Cliftonville v Coleraine (Saturday, 3pm)

CLIFTONVILLE should have Tomas Cosgrove back in their squad for today’s home match with league leaders Coleraine.

There was concern for the Reds defender three weeks ago after an aerial collision with Linfield’s Aaron Burns. Thankfully the player escaped with concussion and a few wounds and he is close to a return.

A lot has changed since Cosgrove’s premature departure. At that stage his side were losing 1-0 to the Windsor Park outfit and looked set to lose more ground on the early league pace-setters.

However, Barry Gray’s team produced a storming late show to win that match 3-2, and have followed it up with league wins over Warrenpoint Town and Glentoran as well as a 7-0 hammering of PSNI in the League Cup.

“It’s all about getting a few wins in a row, getting a bit of confidence and getting some momentum,” said Gray’s assistant Harry Fay.

“Football is about confidence and that’s great because the boys have worked so hard.

“In saying that, anything we have done to date is behind us now and we just have to keep looking forward.

“It’s all about getting familiar with your players and those players getting familiar with what you are asking them to do, and we have started to see that.”

The Bannsiders travel to north Belfast with a big zero in their losses column.

Oran Kearney’s side have secured 28 points from a possible 30 to date and Fay has been impressed with how they have struck a balance between attack and defence.

“Clean sheets win leagues,” he said. “The teams that win anything normally concede the least.

“At the top end of the field, it’s still a work in progress but I think there is a lot of goals in us.

“The main thing now is to get a bit of a solid base and work off that because you’re not going to be able to hit two or three every game, sometimes you’ll have to rely on one goal to win a match.

“Coleraine have been scoring fairly freely but they haven’t been conceding silly goals like a lot of teams have been doing.”

A home win today would make it five league victories on the trot for Cliftonville, a far cry from the opening seven games when they won just twice.

Despite that poor start, Fay said that the fans have been a credit and he is delighted that they are now being rewarded with better performances.

“The one thing Cliftonville have going for them is an incredible support, it has been absolutely unbelievable.

“They turned out in big numbers at the Oval last week and let’s hope we can build momentum on and off the pitch.

“There’s a lot of responsibility that goes with playing for Cliftonville because it’s a big club and the demands are great.

“Players need to recognise what is required because you don’t get half a season to bed in. Hopefully that’s our honeymoon period over and we can continue to kick on.”

Elsewhere today, second-placed Glenavon can extend their advantage over Linfield and Crusaders, who play Monday, when they host Ballymena United.

There’s also an important game at the bottom end of the table as Ballinamallard United host Carrick Rangers while today’s other fixture sees Glentoran traveling to Dungannon.