Excitement building for 'Stute ahead of Linfield visit

Irish Cup Quarter Finals   |   Institute vs. Linfield

Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium   |   Sunday, 1pm

Kevin Deery is under no illusions about the size of the task that awaits his players as they prepare for Sunday's Irish Cup quarterfinal tie against Linfield at the Brandywell.

Undoubtedly the biggest game for the club in several years, excitement is building at 'Stute ahead of the arrival of the Blues, who come to the city to play for the first time since November, 2018, an historic day in itself as it represented the first time the Blues played at the Brandywell for a league tie in 50 years.

David Healy's side are chasing a treble this year, locked in the Premier Division title race with Larne and with a League Cup final with Portadown just over a week away. It is a massive challenge for 'Stute against one of the biggest clubs in the country, but Deery, whose team are flying high in the Championship this year, is embracing the occasion.

"It's brilliant and that's what we want," he said. "We want to be playing all the big Belfast clubs here. 'Stute have been deprived of that for the last few years so we're looking forward to that big tie. Obviously the day before is a massive sporting day with Dublin coming to play Derry at Celtic Park and Derry City playing St Pat's in Brandywell on the Friday so it's a cracking weekend of sport.

'Stute head into the game confident after a good result against Newington which keeps their promotion hopes alive, and Deery said the players deserve the big day out due to their efforts this season.

‘We have a busy period coming up, and the players deserve a big tie against Linfield, but we will need to play a lot better than we did (against Newington) if we’re to have any chance of getting a result. We all know what Linfield can do to teams and we don’t expect them to drop their guard against us.

'They will be coming to the Brandywell to win. They’ll have their homework done and they’ll come here to get really among us and make it physical and show their experience and their knowledge of winning.’

THE LAST TIME... Michael McCrudden celebrates after giving 'Stute the lead against Linfield on their last visit to the Brandywell in November 2018. The Blues came back to win 4-1.

Meanwhile Deery believes that Mikhail Kennedy could be a key factor in the club's bid for success, not just against Linfield, but in the bigger picture this season.

Kennedy scored the crucial late goal to seal the victory in what was a lacklustre display against Newington to take his total to six goals in just nine appearances, and his manager is hoping his goals could be a catalyst for greater things to come at the end of the season.

‘I know he was hurting after a missing a couple last week to kill the game off, but as a striker he has been immense being that focal point for us," he explained. "That was something we didn’t have in the first few months of the season, so I’m absolutely delighted that he’s come in and managed to lead the line so well. He works so hard and puts the work in away from training as well, and having someone like that will help us to drive on this season.’

Deery acknowledged that his players were far from their best against Newington last week, but does believe his side are becoming harder to beat, as ‘Stute continue to improve defensively. At this stage of the season however, results are the most important aspect of any game, and 'Stute remain right in the mix at teh top, just four points behind ;league leaders Dundela.

‘The most important thing for us was the three points to stay in the push for promotion," Deery agreed. "We knew we needed to get the win. Thankfully we were clinical, and that’s seven out of ten clean sheets for us now, and that’s something we need to keep doing from now until the end of the season.

"At this stage of the season you just take any win. We didn’t play particularly well in the first half but we were getting into the final third quite often and finding spaces. They switched formations in the second half and were pressing us a lot higher up, and all I can ask from the players is to not give away soft goals, and not to get overpowered and overrun. At times this season our passing this season has been really good, but I still think its something we need to tidy up. We need to be calmer on the ball, but the main thing was to get the three points at the end of the day.’