Irish League Football

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Cliftonville manager Jim Magilton says his side have to be clinical in tonight's Premiership top-two encounter against leaders Linfield at Solitude.

The Reds sit second on goal difference after thumping Loughgall 5-1 on Saturday.

It's the first meeting of the sides since Cliftonville beat the Blues in the Irish Cup decider in May and the game is live on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website.

"We have total respect for the opposition, we know exactly what Linfield bring to the party," he said Magilton.

"We have to be as ruthless as we can in terms of chances. It’s a game we’ll really be looking forward to."

Linfield are aiming to bounce back from Saturday's 1-0 home defeat by champions Larne - their first league loss of the campaign.

He said: "We look forward to it. You know when you go to Solitude what type of game it is going to be. They’ve started the season really well again.

"With the knowledge and experience that Jim and his staff have, we know when we arrive there on Tuesday night we’re going to need to be big, strong and resilient, more so than what we showed in the end [against Larne]."

There's a full programme of fixtures this evening and there's live text commentary and in-play clips from all six games on the BBC Sport website.

Larne face Glenavon at Mourneview Park, Glentoran host Loughgall while Crusaders travel to face Dungannon Swifts.

Carrick Rangers welcome Ballymena United and Portadown go up against Coleraine at Shamrock Park.

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Ballymena United defender Daithi McCallion wants to see the side build upon their newfound defensive solidity.

Jim Ervin's side leaked a huge number of goals as they battled for survival last season but have conceded just one in their three-game Premiership winning streak.

"The clean sheets are something we're definitely priding ourselves on this year," said McCallion after Ben Kennedy's late winner saw of Glentoran on Saturday.

"Last year we conceded way too many goals but we've worked really, really hard.

"It's brilliant to have two clean sheets on the bounce and long may it continue."

Wins against full-time outfits Larne and Glentoran in recent weeks have certainly highlighted the Braidmen's improvements this season but McCallion is expecting no less of a challenge against bottom of the table Carrick Rangers at Taylor's Avenue on Tuesday evening.

"There's no easy games in this league, every team is competing," he added.

"Every week is a different challenge, that's not going to be any different on Tuesday.

"There's some difficult games coming up but we're looking forward to it as a squad."

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Glentoran manager Declan Devine has criticised his side's schedule as the east Belfast side face three games in six days for the second time this season.

After Saturday's 1-0 defeat to Ballymena United, Glentoran host Loughgall on Tuesday before travelling to play champions Larne at Inver Park on Friday night.

Last month, the Glens faced Portadown, Coleraine and Carrick in the space of six days and it will be a similar scenario in a few weeks' time when a League Cup tie with Dergview is sandwiched between Premiership fixtures against Glenavon and Linfield.

"We're the only team in the county that have played three games in six days twice," said Devine.

"I've been in the game a long time and that's something I can't get my head around."

The former Bohemians and Derry City boss added that he worries about the cost for match-going supporters.

"Our fans are expected to fork out money three times over the course of six days three times, twice already and once next month when we play Linfield on a Friday.

"It's hugely expensive.

"It's extremely strange to play three games in six days [three times] over a short period."

Regardless of when the fixtures fall, Devine knows his side have to show more cutting edge. They have now failed to score in four of their seven league games, including blanks in their last two outings.

"From our point of view, it's not good enough," he said.

"We need to learn, we need to man up, and we need to show a bit more character than we showed in the last minutes of [Saturday]. 

"If you look across the league, everybody is going to take points off each other but that's no excuse from us. The last two performances haven't been at the levels that I want from my team or the levels a club of this magnitude deserves."

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This week, former Crusaders boss Stephen Baxter has the unenviable task of picking a player and manager of the week.

His player of the week is Larne stopper Rohan Ferguson, who pulled off two great saves from Charlie Allen and Joel Cooper as Tiernan Lynch's side picked up their first win of the season against Linfield.

"He comes out with two wonder saves to keep his team alive at Windsor Park and they go up the other end and score the goal to win the game," Baxter said.

"He bounced back from last week where he conceded, for his standard, a sloppy goal [against Ballymena]."

For manager of the week, Baxter plumped for Ballymena boss Jim Ervin.

"A third consecutive win on the bounce, backing up an incredible performance against Larne to then go beat Glentoran at home, well done to him."