Cliftonville have suffered a huge blow as we move towards the business end of the season as one of their key players has been ruled out for the remainder of the campaign.
Reds boss Paddy McLaughlin has confirmed Levi Ives will miss the run-in for the league and Irish Cup after suffering a tear in his quad.
The full back, who also missed the early part of the season through injury, was forced off in the recent win over Portadown.
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He has been a key performer for McLaughlin's men and will be a big miss as they bid to finish the season with some silverware.
"It's not looking good for Levi, he's taken a bad, bad tear in the quad," revealed McLaughlin.
"Without surgery, it's probably going to see him out for the season and with surgery, the recovery will see him out for the season and into the off season.
"So, it's not looking good for him and it's very frustrating for him as he was one of the best players last year.
"We lost him at the start of the season, got him back for the middle and we are now going to lose him at the end which is very disappointing.
"We are very lucky we've got good players who can cover him like Luke Turner and Aaron Traynor.
"We will have Jamie McDonagh back from suspension which takes us to a full quota bar Stephen Mallon and Levi."
The Reds sit six points off Larne at the top of the league and this Saturday take on Dungannon Swifts for the place in the last four of the Irish Cup.
McLaughlin was delighted to see his side bounce back against Glentoran at the weekend after slipping to defeat to the Invermen the week before.
"We definitely got a response and the challenge to the players was that good sides bounce back straight away and they don't dwell on things," he said.
"The two sides went at it but our boys were superb from the first minute to the last.
"Usually there's a spell where we've dipped our form or let it go for a short period of time in a game, but I thought we were excellent for 90 minutes.
"Glentoran are a top side and will still be there at the end of the season but I thought our boys deserved it.
"We worked our socks off, took our goals when they came and defended for our lives."
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