It's that time of the year again!
The World Cup offered a slight reprieve to a summer without football but there's no feeling quite like going to bed on a Friday night knowing that there will be a game tomorrow and every other Saturday for the next eight months.
After a strong finish to last season Glentoran will be hoping to kick on this year- and what a start it will be with a trip to the champions Cliftonville tomorrow followed by the first Big Two meeting of the season at The Oval on Wednesday night against Linfield.
It has been a summer more of releasing players rather than bringing in many new faces at The Oval as budget constraints continue to dominate our transfer policy. As with last season, our promising young players will be the centre of attention again and hopefully if we get a little bit more luck with injuries we can carry on from where we finished in May. One positive piece of business has been concluded in the last 24 hours with Barry Holland signing having played with the team through most of the pre-season.
Ahead of our trip to the champions, Glentoran have been boosted by a number of players making their return to the fold on Tuesday night against Ards. Jay Magee played his first 90 minutes since Scotland which should see him start in defence tomorow. Calum Birney returned with 15 minutes to go but tomorrow might be one start too soon for him however he might be selected in the squad.
Another boost was game time for long-term absentees David Howland and Marcus Kane. Howland missed almost the entire of last season whilst Marcus underwent knee injury in February having been arguably Glentoran's best player the first half of the season. Both players returned on Tuesday night but Marcus is not expected to be in squad tomorrow. Howland may be on the bench.
Curtis Allen will be suspended for the game meaning Mark Miskimmon and Danny McKee will be competing for the striker position. Barry Holland is available to make his competitive debut against his former side.
For Cliftonville following two straight Irish League titles tomorrow will be their first domestic test since star player Liam Boyce left the club for Ross County earlier in the summer. Ciaran Caldwell, Mark Smyth and Ronan Scannell will also not be available.
Tomorrow's game is pay at the gate so please come down and cheer on the team in our first game of the season. COYG