Ryan Cooney insists Glentoran need to put their Big Two disappointment behind them as they prepare to take on Ballymena United in the Irish Premiership on Friday evening (kick-off 7.45pm).

The Glens slipped to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Linfield last Saturday in their second league game of the season.

Cooney though says they cannot afford to dwell on the loss at the Clearer Twist National Stadium with a trip to the Sky Blues the perfect opportunity for Declan Devine’s men to bounce back.

“Nobody likes to lose games, but losing to your rivals is a tough one to take, that’s for sure,” said Cooney.

“There was certainly a lot of disappointment in the changing room following the game and a lot of that came from our own performance.

“There wasn’t a lot in the game, but unfortunately we didn’t do enough over the 90 minutes to really take control of things.

“We didn’t play like we know we can and we didn’t take the game to Linfield in the same way we have done in the past.

“So that’s where our frustration and disappointment stems from because we know we could have and should have done a lot better on the day.

“Those are things we can work on though, we know how to put that right and it’s important that we take the learning from this game.

“The most important thing after any defeat is how you respond and thankfully in the past when we have suffered setbacks we have bounced back straight away.

“We need to do that again come Friday night as we don’t want anything to linger on. We had a good few chats this week reflecting on the defeat and everyone had the same feelings on it.

“We have to use the disappointment as fuel for the fire and make sure that come Friday night we are raring to go once again, and we produce a performance we know we are capable of.”

Cooney is expecting a tough test against Ballymena United following their significant player recruitment in the summer.

Boss Oran Kearney has brought in several high-profile additions and it has already paid dividends following their 3-0 opening day victory over Linfield.

The Sky Blues slipped to a surprise 2-1 loss at Crusaders last weekend but Cooney isn’t reading too much into that result.

“It’s certainly been a very busy summer for Ballymena and I have to say I’ve been impressed with the calibre of players they have brought in,” said the defender.

“They have recruited a lot of quality and experienced Irish League players who have played at this level for a number of years.

“The likes of Jonny Addis, Scot Whiteside and Chris McKee have won so much in the game and they along with the rest of the squad will be big players for them this campaign.

“They showed on the opening day just what they are capable of when they went to Linfield and won easily.

“That doesn’t happen much so we know that Ballymena are a side packed with quality players who can hurt you if you let them.

“Like us they suffered a setback last week and they will be fired up to put the record straight again on Friday.

“It’s their first home game of the season as well so that will give them extra incentive to go out and do well in front of their own fans.

“We are fully aware of all this though and we will be well prepared for our trip to The Showgrounds.

“Preparation is only a part of it; however, it will all come down to how we implement that out on the pitch when it matters.

“We don’t want to find ourselves in a similar position to last Saturday when we didn’t produce a performance good enough to make sure we gave ourselves a platform to go on and win the game.

“It’s very early days in the season, this is only our third game, but we don’t want to be dropping points especially off the back of sub-par performances as that’s something we can control.”

Now in his second season at the BetMcLean Oval Cooney is determined to make it a campaign to remember after coming up just short last time out.

“We all play football to be successful and that comes down to winning trophies and challenging for the major honours,” said the Manchester-born full-back.

“We hit the post in the League and BetMcLean Cup last season and it was tough to take because overall I think it was a very good season in terms of performances and the improvements we made.

“Ultimately though we will be judged by what we win and that is such a driving force for us this season.

“There’s a real hunger about the squad to kick on again and bring more honours back to The Oval.

“It’s not just for us as a squad but also for the manager, the coaches, the owner, board and the most important people, the fans.

“They have stuck by us through thick and thin, and even last week against Linfield they were behind us right up until the final whistle.

“It’s such a boost knowing we have them in our corner and we would love nothing more than to be able to repay them with success at this club.

“We are all pulling together to achieve that and we are determined to make sure that this club continues to challenge for the very top honours.”

For Glentoran fans planning to attend Friday night’s Irish Premiership fixture against Ballymena United, match tickets are available to purchase at: https://ballymenaunited.ticketco.events/uk/en/e/glentoran?version=m