Hi °C | Lo °C Cliftonville preserved their place at the top of the Premier League on Saturday, but manager Eddie Patterson still refuses to make any predictions over the possibility of his side taking the title at the end of the season.
A sensational 4-2 win over shell-shocked Glentoran at Solitude kept the Reds one point clear of second-placed Linfield and increased their advantage over the east-Belfast men to six.
Patterson insists it will still be some weeks before his side can be considered title challengers.
" It was a great day for us and a really huge win, but that's all we're going to take from it for now," he said.
"If you look at the fixtures we have coming up, there's Crusaders on Wednesday, then Limavady, then Portadown and Linfield.
"They're all really tough opponents and we'll have to work extra hard for every point on offer.
"We're at the top right now and we're there to be shot at. Crusaders will be only too pleased to help topple us in Wednesday's derby game and we never have it easy against Limavady - nobody does.
"I don't need to tell anybody about the threat of Portadown and the Blues and it's no exaggeration to say the next three weeks or so could change the shape of the table.
"If we're still rubbing shoulders with the leaders this time next month then, yes, it's fair to say we're right up there.
" Until then, though, we'll just enjoy how things are going for now and try to get as many points on the board as possible."
Chris Scannell opened the scoring on 10 minutes on Saturday before Gary Hamilton drew the Glens level with a wonderfully struck free-kick.
Mark Holland, Scannell and George McMullan had the Reds 4-1 in front ahead of Hamilton bagging his second of the day to complete the Solitude scoring.
That gave Patterson his first league win over the Glens and it was certainly an occasion for him to savour.
"We didn't have a weak link in our performance," he said.
"From John Connolly right the way through to Chris Scannell and Mark Holland up front, we had players who worked their socks off.
"Barry Johnston and Kieran O'Connor have a great understanding in the centre of the field. Barry will sit in front of the defence, put the tackles in, break things down and keep it simple, whereas Kieran likes to get forward and has scored nine times this season.
"Everybody clicked together and it was a brilliant win, but there's a long way to go and the hard work continues when we travel to Seaview on Wednesday."
The Reds now head into the third north-Belfast derby of the season on Boxing Day looking down over the rest of the Premier League following a December which has thus far been kind to Patterson and his men.
A 3-0 win at Coleraine was followed up by a 2-0 success against Newry City and, after Glenavon had been put to the sword at Mourneview they then rocked Glentoran on Saturday.
Patterson insists he and his players are enjoying their tenure as table-toppers and , if they want to prolong it into the New Year, three points are a must at Seaview.
"If we can come out of this spell with more points than we drop, I'll be a happy man," said Patterson, who is already three points to the good.
"It's going to be tough and it all kicks off with a derby battle against Crusaders at Seaview."
The Reds have won each of this season's previous north Belfast encounters - 4-1 and 1-0 in the CIS Cup - but Patterson is taking nothing for granted.
"Crusaders always give us a battle and I've no reason to suspect it'll be any different this time," he said.
"I'm sure there'll be a big crowd at it and a really great atmosphere. We're up there to be shot at and Crusaders get the next go.
"We'll head to Seaview with confidence, though and hopefully we'll be able to continue the great month we've had so far."
