Peter Hutton says onus is on Institute to attack wounded Warrenpoint Town

​The Co. Down side have lost three successive league matches with their latest a demoralising 5-2 home defeat to Armagh City. Therefore Hutton expects a difficult afternoon against a 'physical' outfit intent on getting their season on track.

'Stute put a hugely disappointing last gasp defeat of their own against Limavady United firmly to the back of their minds with an impressive 5-1 win over Dergview in the North West Senior Cup midweek but Hutton is determined to bounce back in the league.

It's been very much a learning curve for Hutton and his newly formed squad of players over the past few weeks as they get to know the opposition teams, managers and venues but the Derry City legend has seen enough to believe his team is a match for anyone in the league.

"They're coming here after a home defeat so I'm sure their manager is looking for a reaction," said Hutton. "I'm sure they will be looking forward to coming up to the Brandywell on the big pitch. “They're always a very competitive team, even their underage teams, so it's one we won't be taking rightly.

"It's going to be another tough game," he continued. "It's my first experience in this league and so far you see that anybody can beat anybody on their day. It's a very competitive league.

"Warrenpoint did well when they played Limavady recently and were on the other side of a 1-0 loss but were very physical and very direct.

"We appreciate it's going to be a tough game but it's a home game and the onus is on us to go out and try and attack and get the win."

Philip Lowry - who Hutton signed for Derry City back in 2014 - came back to haunt his old boss when scoring a late winner for Limavady at Brandywell last Saturday. It was a tough one to take for the home side but Hutton took encouragement, despite admitting it was 'probably our poorest performance yet'.

"It's two different teams altogether in terms of the amount of investment Limavady has put into the club. They're expecting to go up this year.

"I felt we didn't play anywhere near to what we're capable of. We've played much better in the previous games so that was a bit disappointing.

"They held their own more than enough up until 92 minutes when Philip pops up with a late winner. He's done it for years. I signed him for Derry many years ago to do the same thing so he came back to haunt me," he laughed.

"It's a tough learning curve for the young boys but it's something we're not going to dwell on."

“It's been a mixed bag of results for 'Stute so far in the league with two defeats, one draw and one win but Hutton has been impressed with his young team and backroom staff who were hastily assembled.

"We were a bit late in getting the team together and getting the team to gel because of preseason and we were four or five weeks behind where we would've liked to be.

"The boys have gelled really well and it's a really good group off the field as well. Good people. Good players and they're all here for the right reasons which is massive. It's a new adventure for myself. It's the first time I'm coming across these teams and the various players and even the various managers. We are taking it game by game and learning as we go."