David Jeffrey will wake up this morning and celebrate 12 years in charge of Linfield from a familiar vantage point — looking down on the rest.

The Blues remain at the top of the JJB Sports Premiership after grinding out a hard-fought victory over a tenacious Cliftonville at Solitude yesterday in a fixture which could easily have been billed as the clash of the patched up XIs.

Between them, the Belfast clubs were without a staggering TWENTY players through a combination of injury and suspension but they nevertheless combined to contribute to an enteraining affair which the Blues will feel they deserved to win and left the Reds wondering how they came away with nothing.

Before the game, Jeffrey insisted there was unlikely to be a repeat showing of his troops’ last visit to Solitude — a 4-0 win in front of Sky’s TV cameras — but even he must have been surprised by the sheer simplicity of his side’s goals.

Paul Munster buried a free header on seven minutes and, after George McMullan had restored parity on 20, Mark Miskimmin won the points thanks to further genorosity from the Cliftonville defence.

The second period was very much a backs to the wall affair for the Blues and Jeffrey was full of praise for his men after they held out for victory.

“You talk about courage, you talk about determination, you talk about desire, those boys had it all in abundance,” he enthused.

“We’re absolutely down to the bare bones here and we’re having to put players out and ask them to do big jobs for the team.

“They showed a lot of courage and so, so much will to win. Their desire was epitomised by three challenges in particular from William Murphy in the second half.

“William and Stephen Douglas, as two of the elder statesmen in the line-up, are the people you need to step up to the plate and set an example for the others. They did exactly that with a top class performance.

“We’ve been hit so, so hard with injuries and the players left remaining have had no other option than to battle on and display their own qualities in some very testing matches.

“Full credit to them today because Cliftonville bombarded us and we had to hold strong. They have such desire to win and they showed that over the course of the 90 minutes but especially in the second half.”

While the points were assured thanks to accomplished defending — and a touch of fortune — in the second period, all of the game’s goals came in the first half.

Munster broke the deadlock just seven minutes in when he found himself in

acres of space to head home Damien Curran’s free-kick delivery.

Alan Mannus made a fine save to deny Mark Holland just minutes later but Cliftonville eventually drew level when Chris Scannell rose to head over the visiting keeper and the in-rushing George McMullan made no mistake with a well-taken left-footed conversion.

A superb throughball from Rory Hamill set Mark Holland away on 24 minutes but Jamie Mulgrew was back in time for an important tackle and it wasn’t long before Linfield found themselves back in front — John Martin’s volleyed cross being flicked on by Munster and Miskimmin nipped away from Declan O’Hara to head home.

The Reds took the game to Jeffrey’s men after the interval and Hamill’s left-footed volley was very much a signal of their intent.

Aiden O’Kane hacked a Ryan Catney drive off the line on 50 minutes and, from the resulting corner, Mannus touched Holland’s header into the air and Scannell’s rebound was blocked on the line by Mulgrew before the Reds’ captain’s next attempt appeared to strike Curran on the arm before the ball was eventually cleared.

Just past the hour, a wonderful touch and spin from Holland left Murphy on his backside but the striker’s poor shot was easily turned away by Mannus.

The Blues keeper came to the champions’ rescue once again with a quarter of an hour to play when he plucked Francis Murphy’s cross off McMullan’s head and, when he was nowhere to be seen in injury time’s final breath, full-back Conor Hagan was perfectly positioned to head off the line following yet another goalmouth scramble.

That would prove the final action of a pulsating encounter and Cliftonville boss Eddie Patterson was left scratching his head as his team fell to a first defeat in nine games.

“We’re disappointed, that goes without saying,” he admitted.

“We’ve had all the chances in the second half and, apart from their two goals, I don’t think Linfield actually had a shot on target.

“I don’t think they were any better than us in terms of the football that was played, but obviously it’s the end result which matters and they put the ball in the net more than we did.

“We had our chances. There were a few off the line and Mark [Holland] was clean through, but it was just one of those days where it wouldn’t happen for us.”

Patterson also explained how post-match comments from a Cliftonville director had left him considering his future at the north Belfast club.

“It was disappointing and hurtful to hear,” he said.

“Other players heard what was said but they told me to ignore it and put it out of my mind. I’ve had Chris Scannell come up and tell me not to let it bother me but it was still a disappointing thing to happen.

“It got me thinking about my position but the truth is I know there’s a big job to be done here and I have a great bond with my players. I want what’s best for them and for this football club. I’ve been a Cliftonville man my whole life and walking away isn’t something I would do lightly.”

A club official confirmed afterwards that “something was said in the heat of the moment which was interpreted as being more serious than it was. Football is a passionate game and sometimes things are said which are picked up wrong or taken the wrong way, but we have spoken with Eddie to clarify the situation and he has been re-assured that what was said was not meant as a threat to his job.”