Rory Hale: Cliftonville have more pressure than last year with Irish Cup defence and European goal

The Reds know that if they can overcome Dungannon Swifts in this afternoon’s showpiece and retain the trophy, then they will earn qualification for the Conference League in the summer.

Cliftonville were in the same position a year ago but had the luxury of already qualifying for Europe due to their league standing as they ended a 44-year hoodoo by lifting the Irish Cup courtesy of a 3-1 victory against Linfield.

Hale and his team-mates know that if they are not successful this afternoon then they will be involved in the end-of-season play-offs - something which the Reds skipper wants to avoid.

He said: "I feel there's more pressure riding on this year's final. Last year we had an amazing league campaign going toe-to-toe with Larne and Linfield all the way up to the split.

"We had already qualified for Europe before we had even played the final.

"We are in the difficult situation now where we really do need European football and we don't want to go into the play-offs, which is a lottery.

"After playing 38 league games you're then facing two more tough games to go through.

"So there's a lot more pressure on this game, but like I said over the last few weeks this group really does step up when it matters, and hopefully it's the same again in this final."

After already securing the BetMcLean Cup, Cliftonville are on the verge of getting their hands on the two major domestic cup competitions.

But what has been the secret to cup success after an inconsistent Premiership campaign, which saw Jim Magilton’s finish seventh?

"It's probably one of those things this season where it has just happened,” Hale added.

"The early rounds of the League Cup you either win or lose, it's as simple as that.

"Teams are fielding different players, you're playing against lower-level opposition and you get a few upsets, but luckily enough, we put on some professional performances and went through the rounds.

"Once you get to January, the Irish Cup starts and you get a feel of where you're at in the league table.

"You're not prioritising the cup games over the league games...but when you're sitting sixth or seventh in the league, it puts that little bit more pressure going into the Irish Cup games.

"We felt that pressure when we played Glenavon in the Sixth Round due to our league position and we just needed to win.

"Then we got drawn away to Crusaders in the quarter-final which was another really tough game.

"It was similar where we had dropped points in the league heading into that game and it was just that pressure clash where we needed to step up to the plate.

"I think in one-off games we are a match for anybody.”

Cliftonville and Dungannon are known for playing attractive football but Hale is solely focused on one thing – retaining the trophy.

"Last year, luckily enough both sets of teams put on a really good spectacle, it was a really good battle and a high sense of competitiveness - but there was some good football played also,” he stressed.

"You can go into a cup final and there's some good football played and it's great for the neutral, but for me, I just want to lift the trophy at the end of the day.”