Linfield star feels 'we're in and around where we need to be' ahead of busy festive period
Linfield midfielder Chris Shields feels the reigning Premiership champions are “in and around where we need to be” - and predicts it’ll be a competitive battle for Gibson Cup honours this season.
Having played a key role in Linfield’s dominant triumph last season, Shields has been ruled out for the rest of the current campaign after picking up a serious knee injury against Glenavon in September.
A self-confessed “terribly nervous watcher”, the former Dundalk ace admits it’s still tough coming to terms with the fact he “won’t kick another ball this season”, but is giving his all to support team-mates as they fight for silverware success.
Linfield enter Saturday’s showdown with Crusaders having put together a 10-game unbeaten run across all competitions, including eight matches in the Premiership.
David Healy’s men sit third, seven points behind Coleraine and Larne while holding matches in hand on both of their rivals, who will be in action on Friday evening against Bangor and Glentoran respectively.
The Glens are one point adrift of their bitter ‘Big Two’ rivals in fourth, and with the four full-time teams establishing positions at the top, Shields anticipates a hotly-contested race which could go the distance.
"I do (see it being competitive), yeah,” he said. “I think ourselves, Larne, Glentoran and Coleraine, I think it’ll probably go down to the split again this year.
"Cliftonville are really hitting form now, so you never know where they could end up. In this league, any team is capable of beating each other on their day, so you always have to be on your game, whatever match day it is.”
Linfield have progressed to the BetMcLean Cup semi-finals, where they’ll face Ballymena United next month, and earlier this week found out they will welcome Bangor to Windsor Park in the Irish Cup fifth round.
Before that, they have to deal with crucial league assignments, including Glentoran on Boxing Day before travelling to Coleraine four days later.
Shields is happy with the current position his side find themselves in ahead of a busy festive period.
"We're in and around where we need to be,” he added. “We've got matches to catch up on and we've got big games coming up.
"We had Larne last Friday...you would see each other as title contenders and now we have the big Boxing Day match coming up. It's always a huge spectacle.
"There's a long way to go. For us, we're in and around where we need to be. We're trying to start moving up the table now just to get closer.
"We're in the semi-final of the League Cup, which is a brilliant competition.
"It (consistency) is (starting to build). There's one or two results, obviously the Ballymena and Portadown losses...sometimes those things happen in football.
"It's about how you bounce back and the injuries we've had...I think one or two games recently we've had about 14 or 15 senior players at the most. The lads are doing well.
"Even last week, a few boys were hit with the flu – stuff that David can't really prepare for is happening sometimes. The lads are doing brilliantly. I'm just their cheerleader now!”