Eddie Patterson has warned his Cliftonville players that a repeat of Monday’s night’s performance when they lost 7-0 in a friendly to Ipswich Town could result in a European horror story.

The Reds warmed up for tomorrow night’s UEFA Cup outing against the might of Danish side FC Copenhagen with exactly the kind of display Patterson didn’t want.

Now he is demanding more discipline, better application and an impoved thought process if the north Belfast men are to make the Mourneview Park meeting competitive.

“There was a lot of naivety from our players and they have to realise very quickly that in games against full-time opposition you can’t play the way you normally play in your own league,” said Patterson.

“Too often we were gung-ho, we atacked at will and players didn’t protect those behind them which left gaps that were exploited.

“It may have been only a friendly, but we wanted to give a good account of ourselves and it wasn’t the best Cliftonville performance at all.”

Now Patterson is hoping that his squad – which will once again be missing midfield pair Barry Johnston and George McMullan, as well as recent signing Rory Hamill, while Francis Murphy only returned from holiday in the early hours of Tuesday morning and won’t start against Copenhagen – will learn from the experience of taking a hammering on Monday night.

“It has to be a wake-up call for individuals,” said Patterson.

“With respect to Lurgan Celtic, Kilmore Rec and Armagh City, whom we have also played, Ipswich and Copenhagen are a different prospect. We have to play in a different way and players have to carry out instructions.”

Meanwhile, Larne began their pre-season warm-up in confident fashion last night before a late goal saw them lose 2-1 to Macclesfield. The Silkmen looked sluggish 24 hours after

their encounter with Blackburn Rovers and failed to stamp their authority on the game until the closing exchanges.

Indeed, it was the home side who made all the headway in terms of chances during a quiet first half, but it was the Silkmen who forged ahead just three minutes into the second period when Eddie Adams was unfortunate to head into his own goal. However, Larne were deservedly level just five minutes later when Noel Corrigan found the bottom corner of the net.

Corrigan almost won it just five minutes from time but his spectacular volley crashed against the crossbar and bounced to safety.

Macclesfield grabbed victory in the dying seconds when Simon Yeo converted from close range.Coleraine enjoyed a 3-1 success over Derry City at the Showgrounds last night in another friendly battle.