DEAN Shiels has called on his players to equal the standard set in last weekend’s victory as they face Portadown at The Showgrounds…

A deadly brace by Connor Murray proved to be the difference at Windsor Park as the Bannsiders left the home of the league leaders with all three points.

Shiels lauded his players for their performance in the capital but knows they will need to replicate the same if they are to triumph against Niall Currie’s side tomorrow afternoon.

“Portadown are having a really good season and have really good players,” he said.

“They have invested well into their squad so it’s going to be very difficult.

“They’ve drawn recently at Cliftonville and beat Larne, so they are in good form and we are going to have to be at our best.

“We are going to have to equal the standards we reached last week and that’s key with consistency with performance levels.

“We are very confident going into it and the belief from which we got last week should progress into Saturday.

“Away at Linfield is always tough but getting a really strong side out and trying to get some balance in the squad and a settled team has been difficult recently.

“We looked at how we could hurt them and we were delighted. We started with an intent, we were quick out of the blocks, looked the better team and had control of the whole game throughout.”

Dean Jarvis is set to absent once again as the defender completes the final match of his two-game ban, with Shiels also providing an update on Alfie Gaston.

He explained: “Dean has got another game to go and he’s done really well this season.

“Thankfully, we have Levi in there which gives us another option.

“Alfie Gaston has had bad news and he’s going to be out for the season with another injury, which is really disappointing for him.

“He’s a young player who will need a little bit of support.

“Similarly with Aidan Tejada who hasn’t really gotten over his injuries this year.

“Unfortunately, we have two or three players who started last Saturday who haven’t trained this week, so we are trying to nurse them to see where they are at.

“Apart from that, we are looking quite strong in that regard.”

Supporters can buy tickets for tomorrow’s contest HERE.