Jim Magilton feels 'people got a bit ahead of themselves' during Cliftonville's 'little wobble'
Cliftonville manager Jim Magilton believes “people got a little bit ahead of themselves” during his side’s previous poor Premiership run with the Reds now back on top form following a 4-2 victory over reigning champions Larne.
The Solitude outfit lost six consecutive league games between September 15 and October 17, failing to score in four during that run – five of the defeats were by a single goal.
However, Magilton’s men have now won each of their last five across three different competitions and returned to their free-flowing best, netting 19 goals across that period, including seven in a Premiership triumph over Carrick Rangers.
Rory Hale’s brace alongside further goals from Shaun Leppard and Rhyss Campbell helped Cliftonville seal a statement win on Friday night, and Magilton was full of praise for his players.
"Tactically we were so good and at 3-0 it was a near perfect performance,” Magilton told BBC Sport NI. “But when you analyse the quality of the opposition you know that there's going to be some nervy moments and they provided that.
"We started to have a little wobble but stuck to our guns again and showed great resilience and great character. There were so many fantastic individual performances, but credit goes to the team and the lads that came off the bench too.
"It was a collective performance so they should be immensely proud of their performance and their fitness levels again were through the roof.
"It's a credit to them, we went through a little wobble this season and people got a little bit ahead of themselves.
"We don't seek approval, but what we do, we knuckle down, we go again and we have great belief in them."