Rodney McAree determined to achieve 'remarkable' Dungannon Swifts feat
Dungannon Swifts manager Rodney McAree insists it would be “remarkable” if his side secured consecutive top-half Premiership finishes – but believes he has a squad capable of achieving the feat.
The Swifts created a piece of club history last term by securing their joint-best Premiership finish of fourth and head into Saturday’s showdown against Ballymena United sitting sixth.
McAree has masterminded a sensational season transformation – Dungannon lost each of their opening five matches this term but only leaders Larne have collected more points across the last 10 played by each top-flight team.
Dungannon hadn’t finished inside the Premiership’s top-half since 2009/10 prior to last season’s heroics while they ended each of their previous seven campaigns in eighth or worse.
Victories over Glentoran (twice), Cliftonville and Larne have set the platform for another potential European run, and McAree has full faith in the squad at his disposal.
"If we finish in the top-six two years in a row it'll be remarkable, but we've given ourselves that opportunity,” he said. “We have two away games coming up, our next one at Ballymena, so we'll focus on it and try and go there and get points.
"We'll try and stay in the top-six for as long as we can. I believe that we've got a squad that's capable of it. I believe that how we play and how they carry out responsibilities as individuals and a collective...we've got a chance.
"But there's a lot of good teams behind us who are waiting to bounce above us. I feel as if whenever we're at our best, whenever we work hard and whenever we put a shift in and we're good on the ball, I feel we're hard to beat.
"I think we're competitive. That was our initial target when I came back to the club – let's be competitive. We have been competitive for the past two-and-a-half years, so let's try and keep that going.”