Warrenpoint Town boss Barry Gray has declared Cliftonville the toughest opposition he has faced in the Danske Bank Premiership this season.
The Reds edged just a point behind joint leaders Linfield and Glentoran with 10 games left thanks to a 1-0 win over Warrenpoint at Solitude on Tuesday night.
And while Cliftonville boss Paddy McLaughlin insists the Blues and Glens remain runaway favourites to lift the Gibson Cup, Gray says his former club is slap bang in the middle of a title challenge.
“Everybody always says if you’re in the mix around Christmas or New Year, you have a chance,” he said.
“We are nearly into March and Cliftonville are still there. Are they in the title hunt? Of course they are. They are a point off second, so of course they are.
"But outside of what the table tells us, they are an excellent side.”
Asked how Cliftonville compare to other title contenders with the final straight in sight, Gray - who was succeeded by McLaughlin as Reds boss in 2019 - said: “I thought they were outstanding against us.
“I’m not being disrespectful, but we’ve gone toe-to-toe with some big sides recently and in my opinion Cliftonville on Tuesday night were miles ahead of them.
“I have to be honest and say that we found it substantially more difficult than we have against other top opposition this season.
“There were large patches of the game where we really struggled to handle them and that’s due to the quality they have, on the pitch and off the bench.
“They are well set up, they punish you for turnovers, they put you in situations where they hunt you down and they also have an ability to sit back and be compact.
“They let you have the ball in certain areas where it isn’t dangerous to them and I know some fans might grumble at Paddy about that at times, but you can’t fault it.
“It may not be easy on the heart sitting in the stands when it’s 1-0, but Cliftonville do it really well and Paddy deserves great credit for that.”
Warrenpoint Town had teenage goalkeeper Stephen McMullan, who made a string of top saves, to thank for keeping Tuesday night’s scoreline at 1-0.
McMullan, who turned 17 in December, denied Jamie McDonagh, Ronan Doherty, Joe Gormley and Jonny Addis in either half as Cliftonville chased more goals.
“Stephen got fired into senior football a couple of months ago and full credit to him,” said Gray. “He made a number of top saves and kept us in the game.
“We were very busy defensively. To come away with a 1-0 defeat was probably the best we could have hoped given the level of Cliftonville’s performance.”
