By Johnny Morton

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The Co Tyrone outfit lifted their maiden Irish Cup crown in May after sealing a joint-best top-flight finish of fourth, but they’ve lost six of their first seven matches this term, leaving them sitting only above Glenavon. A cornerstone of Dungannon’s crusade to breaking up an established top-half was home form with runaway champions Linfield (16) the sole top-six side to win more matches at their own ground than the Swifts (11) while only the Blues (37) boasted a better goalscoring return. However, this season they’ve started off with three consecutive defeats at home, losing to Portadown, Carrick Rangers and Crusaders, netting once in the process. They’ll have another opportunity to get up and running on Saturday when Cliftonville visit in what is a repeat of last season’s Irish Cup final which the Swifts won on penalties. “It was a fortress,” said McAree. “My wife would have sent me a picture of a fortress every weekend. “We just can’t get it going at this moment in time, but we have to keep at it, we have to fight – we have to work a bit harder to make it happen. “We have a lot of quality within the dressing room. We should be doing better than what we are. This club has pushed itself a wee bit more than it has ever pushed itself. “Keith Boyd (chairman) and Adrian Whittle (vice-chairman) deserve great credit in terms of what they have done…we have to try and give a wee bit back and we have to make sure that we’re giving everything that we have. “Our next match coming up is going to be a tough one. We’re at home to Cliftonville. They ground out a great three points against Ballymena in a tight game…that shows you the grit and the determination that they have. “I spoke to the players and said other teams will be looking at us and thinking ‘they’re soft, they’re a little bit mentally soft. Let’s put the ball in the box. Let’s ask the questions’. That’s what I’d be saying if I was playing against us at the moment. “We just can’t accept that. We have to rise above that. We have to challenge ourselves to make sure it doesn’t happen too regularly.” McAree insists everybody involved within the changing room environment has to look at themselves and make improvements if Dungannon want to begin climbing the table. “Everybody has to (change), everybody has to,” he added. “Myself, I have to improve, Dixie (Robinson, assistant) has to change…that goes all the way through the squad. “It’s a collective thing. The dressing room has to do better. At this moment, the dressing room is not doing well enough.”