Hi °C | Lo °C Cliftonville might have spent the last week looking down upon the rest of the Carnegie Premier League, but nobody at the Solitude club has yet cleared a space for the Gibson Cup in the boardroom.
Goalkeeper John Connolly ? who, along with Kieran O'Connor, is one of only two players to have featured in every fixture thus far, insists there is no title talk in the dressing room, especially so early in the campaign.
"It's a nice position to be in, but we'd rather be there in April," he says.
"There are only six games gone and I don't think anybody at any club would be thinking about winning the league if they were in a similar position.
"There's a long way to go yet and maybe being top of the league will have an impact on those matches because our opposition will probably raise their game against us. Everybody likes beating the table-toppers."
The Reds face Larne at Solitude this afternoon and the former Institute and Newry shot-stopper believes he and his team-mates are in for a rough ride.
"Larne have done well since Paul Curran took over midway through last season and we know exactly what to expect. Maybe some people will look at this game as a guaranteed three points for Cliftonville against a so-called 'lesser' side, but not me.
"I remember how well Larne did at Solitude last season. We were expected to win easy that day as well but drew 0-0 and Larne were probably unlucky not to get more from the game."
Topping the table unbeaten, a fifth of the way through the campaign has certainly made up for the early exits from both the CIS Cup and County Antrim Shield, which came as major disappointments at the time given the Reds had contested the finals of both last year.
Connolly, however, has echoed boss Eddie Patterson's recent sentiments about the long-term benefits of not having so many midweek matches.
"I said to the gaffer afterwards that maybe it would be a blessing in disguise. Last year, we were dead on our feet in the last couple of games and maybe doing so well in all the cups is what cost us.
"This year, we had an extra two cup competitions to play in - the Intertoto in the summer and the Setanta come the new year.
"At the minute, we're getting a good rest between matches and we have a settled training schedule. For six weeks or so, we found ourselves playing on Saturday, training on Monday, playing on Tuesday and so on and that kind of thing can take it out of you.
"Between now and the Setanta Cup, I think we have just one midweek match, so hopefully we'll be fresh enough to compete in that and the Irish Cup as well as having a little extra in the tank for the league."
