Same again says McCann

The Whites’ boss was the happiest man in the league on Tuesday night as he saw his Distillery side earn their first win in the Danske Bank Premiership with a 2-1 win over Swifts lifting them off the foot of the table.

Now he is calling for his side to repeat their feat as they face Oran Kearney’s Coleraine side who have started the season well and currently lie in third place.

“Oran Kearney has Coleraine playing very well,” said McCann. “They might have been beaten by Cliftonville but I think that was a freak result, they are flying high at the minute.

“Coleraine is always a tough place to go, but spirits should be high in the squad. The win takes the pressure off and hopefully we can go and get a result, be it a point or three points. Just to not get beat is the message. I want us to replicate that performance and move on from here.”

The Whites are sweating on the fitness of Michael Halliday who is struggling with an ankle injury at the minute.

McCann added: “Michael wanted to play on Tuesday. He lasted 60 minutes and was magnificent. He has got a few days to rest now so we will wrap him up in cotton wool and hopefully he will be okay for Saturday.”

• BLUES boss David Jeffrey says his Linfield side will face a tough test at Portadown today.

“We have had a pretty stiff run of games, but I much prefer that,” said Jeffrey. “The players have no respite, no time to feel sorry for themselves, not that they would, the fact is there is another big challenge waiting for you.”

Defeat on Tuesday night left the Blues with just five points from five matches, but Jeffrey said he felt for his team.

“I felt very much for the players,” he said. “The quality of some of our football was very good and it was just one of those nights where you don’t get what you deserve. But it is not where you are now, it is where you finish up. The standards are so immensely high that if you don’t win or you drop some points then people question it, but this is as tough a year as ever.

“We have got to bounce back,” he said.