Our strong start to the season means my Dungannon Swifts side can play with a bit more freedom: Rodney McAree

The Swifts moved back up to second spot in the table on Boxing Day as goals from Dean Curry and John McGovern sealed a 2-1 victory against Loughgall at Stangmore Park.

In a busy festive period for the men from County Tyrone, McAree's men are set to be tested this evening as they make the trip to face Cliftonville at Solitude.

Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster Sportsound, McAree commented on his side's eye-catching league results so far this season: "At this moment in time, we will just embrace the challenge and look forward to our next one.

"We've put ourselves in a position which a lot of people probably didn't think we would have been in at the start of the season.

"We go to Solitude on Monday night and we will play with a little bit of freedom.

"There's no real pressure on us at this moment in time in my opinion.

"We want to get results, we have to compete and we want to challenge ourselves so that we can get those results."

Dungannon looked like sealing a comfortable victory against bottom-of-the-table Loughgall on Thursday until Jay Boyd pulled a goal back with four minutes to go.

McAree conceded that his players should have never found themselves in the position of having to see the game out, with Steven Scott then being guilty of missing an open goal from a matter of yards.

"I thought we should have had the game dead and buried," he added.

"I don't think it was a vintage performance by ourselves and we struggled to reach the levels that we want to.

"I think that comes off the fact we had two very difficult games and the latest one was only on Monday night.

"Maybe the boys were a little bit leggy but they found the energy levels to get over the line at the end.

"Unfortunately for Scotty, he's going to be an internet sensation for the next few hours!

"If he takes a wee bit off it, it goes into the net but unfortunately it's gone against him.”

Cliftonville lost on Boxing Day to rivals Crusaders as Kieran Offord netted a deadly brace in the second half.

Boss Jim Magilton pulled no punches after the loss saying that his team lacked the required intensity to pick up a positive result at Seaview.

“The first-half was a pretty tepid affair in all honesty,” he told Cliftonville’s official website.

“We had maybe one or two little glimpses but we were just so flat. At half-time, we talked about a sense of urgency, playing with a bit more intensity and quality because our quality and decision making had been poor in the first-half.

“Then we had that mad spell where we gave the ball away cheaply, they capitalised on it and scored, so you regroup – and then they score again quickly and, ultimately, it took us to go 2-0 down before we actually decided ‘this is a big game and it’s a derby game, and we have to do more’.”