Gray urging his Reds to dig deep and snap out of miserable spell
CLIFTONVILLE boss Barry Gray has called on his players to stand up and be counted.
Three shattering defeats in the space of seven days have resulted in the north Belfast boys tumbling down to fifth in the Danske Bank Premiership table and exiting the League Cup, beaten in a quarter-final penalty shoot-out by Dungannon Swifts.
It means revenge will be on the menu tomorrow when Kris Lindsay brings his County Tyrone braves back to Solitude for a crucial league showdown.
Gray believes one good result can help his boys snap out of their depressing situation.
“There will always be setbacks in football, but we tend to have them a little bit more regularly than most teams,” he said.
“There is no magic wand. Do we have ability within the group? Yes, we do. Have we seen enough of it consistently, week in week out? No, we haven’t.
“Dungannon will be another difficult game. Both teams will be familiar with each other having played just last week.
“The League Cup win will be massive for them. It should put them in a positive mood. Kris Lindsay has made an impact — we witnessed that in their performance against us.
“But it’s not about Dungannon for me. Our concentration levels must be on what we can get.
“We had an horrendous week, beaten by Ballymena, Dungannon and then Linfield. It’s up to us to snap ourselves out of it.
“It’s not as bad as everyone thinks it is. We are in an inconsistent spell, which is difficult to break. Sometimes it takes a fresh approach. Sometimes it takes a fresh player pool. Sometimes you can work your way out of it.”
Gray believes one big result can help build confidence.
He added: “My players were critical of themselves in a negative way, and I don’t like that. When I’ve boys saying we are rubbish based on other opinions, I don’t like that.
“When things get even tougher, you work harder again until you come out the other side.”