Jonny Addis insists Cliftonville will have no fear heading into Irish Cup final against Linfield

​Addis, who has been one of the Reds’ standout performers this season, opened the scoring in their 2-0 semi-final win over Larne at Windsor Park and played a key role as they collected a fourth consecutive clean sheet on their run to the showpiece decider.

While Cliftonville haven’t experienced Irish Cup glory in over four decades, Addis won it nine years ago with Glentoran, coming on as a substitute in the East Belfast side’s 1-0 triumph versus Portadown.

Many of the current Reds team have tasted silverware success with the likes of Joe Gormley winning two Premiership titles and five of the squad that played in Saturday’s win were present when Cliftonville lifted the BetMcLean Cup in 2022.

Addis will look to play more of a starring role in his latest venture to the Irish Cup final and says they won’t fear the occasion.

"That feels like a lifetime ago,” he reflected on 2015. “I was a young player and was on the bench that day...it's a bittersweet feeling when you're on the bench to be truthful.

"We have enough know-how in the changing room with people that have won plenty of trophies so we'll not be going into that game with any fear.

"The opportunity to get our hands on something at the end of the year is massive and we want to give the fans what they really want."

While scoring his fourth goal of the season helped set up victory, Addis was also delighted to see the Reds return to being defensively solid with this just their second clean sheet in eight matches after coming into 2024 with the Irish League’s best record.

"We've been a wee bit leaky in recent weeks having been defensively very solid up to Christmas time and coming into the New Year,” he added. “The last few weeks we've been poor, conceded sloppy goals and you just don't get away with it.

"You get punished at the slightest lack of concentration and by and large I thought we were very solid today.

"You need your goalkeeper on a day like this and David (Odumosu) made a great save at 2-0 which makes a big difference in the last five minutes. We're delighted with the clean sheet."