Swifts have to realise that points are all that matter, says Harpur

DUNGANNON Swifts midfielder Ryan Harpur believes they have to learn how to win ugly.

The Tyrone side have one victory from their last six league games — a scrappy 1-0 success at Ballinamallard.

In other matches Dungannon have performed well but fallen short and Harpur believes they need to rediscover the knack of grinding out results.

“It doesn’t matter how you win — you’d rather not play so well and pick up the points,” the 29-year-old said. “I didn’t think we played all that well (against Limavady last weekend) but we won and are through to the next round of the Irish Cup.

“In the league maybe we need to do the same — sacrifice the performances and get three points. That’s what counts.”

Today, Dungannon host a Coleraine side who need to rediscover their winning touch.

Draws against Ballymena and Cliftonville have seen them drop to second — and they will be keen to get back on track.

But Harpur believes the Swifts have what it takes to inflict only a second league defeat of the season on Oran Kearney’s side.

“It can tend to be in our favour when we play against the bigger teams,” he said. “Hopefully it works for us, we give it a good go and come away with three points.

“We played Coleraine before Christmas, just after facing Linfield, and both times the other goalkeeper got man of the match.

“It tells you how close we were, but we need to learn how to win.”

Harpur scored twice in the 4-0 win over Limavady last weekend.

The tie saw new signing Mark Patton make his debut, and he set up two of the goals.

Harpur believes he can have a big impact, adding: “He’s come here a couple of times and played really well against us.

“We know he can deliver a good ball, so it’s always good for people in the box who can get on the end of things.

“It’s good that he has come in and he might offer something different to what we already have.”

Swifts winger Cormac Burke agreed to sign a two-year extension to his contract this week.

“I think for all the hard work that everyone puts in around the club, both on and off the pitch, the next thing has to be silverware for us,” he said.

“We came so close last year in the semi-finals of the Irish Cup v Linfield. We have a semi-final of the Bet McLean League Cup coming up this Tuesday night, so there is no question that silverware has to be a target.” Aim: Ryan Harpur wants to turn losses into wins