Cliftonville boss Paddy McLaughlin says his players deserve more credit than they’ve received so far for staying in the thick of a dramatic title race.
The Reds twice led leaders Linfield on Tuesday night, only to be pegged back with Ethan Devine scoring a late equaliser for the Blues at Solitude.
A frustrating climax perhaps, but with 14 games left the North Belfast men are still only five points off the summit and hot on the tails of David Healy's champions and Glentoran.
McLaughlin and his players, who weren't being talked up as title challengers back in August, still have a lot to target heading into the business end of the campaign.
“We were playing against the champions and I thought our performance was excellent throughout - the boys were superb,” he said.
“It was a good test to see where we’re at. It was a marker because it tells you how close or far away you are to them.
“I think everyone saw we’re not too far away from being a really good side and the boys deserve all the credit in the world.
“I’ll wait to see if they get it. They don’t get it too often so we’ll see if they get it in the days ahead and see how match reports and social media goes.”
After losing back-to-back to Crusaders and Glentoran, the latter live on Sky last Monday night, the Reds have shown real character to bounce back and stay in the title equation.
Tuesday night’s pulsating 2-2 draw with Linfield, who are a point clear of Glentoran at the summit, followed a 1-0 win at Larne on Friday night.
“The schedule has been hectic and we have played three top sides, but we have proved ourselves more than a match for them,” said McLaughlin.
“To come away with zero points against the Glens was really disappointing but we carried those performance levels into Friday night at Larne.
“We were delighted to come away from Inver Park with three points and a clean sheet and the performance levels of the players have been fantastic.
“We maybe tired a bit late on against Linfield, but we were very good for long spells and I cannot give the boys enough credit.
"We could have won the game, but to be fair to Linfield they have a never-say-die attitude and I was actually worried we might get sucker punched at the end, so we’ll take a point and move on.”
Next up for Cliftonville is a trip to Ballymena United, who suffered a 3-0 midweek defeat at Carrick Rangers, on Friday night.
