Glentoran only have a short distance to travel for their Irish Cup Quarter Final as they take on Knockbreda at Breda Park. Glentoran fans may be used to playing Knockbreda in pre-season games, but never in a game quite like this one. Tomorrow's game is undoubtedly the biggest in Knockbreda's history as they aim to qualify for the semi-final of the Irish Cup. For Glentoran however this game also could be billed as our biggest of the season with the Irish Cup being our last hope of domestic silverware.
For Glentoran the team news remains the same with a number of noticable returns in recent weeks. Colin Nixon and David Howland have returned to first team duty and Calum Birney has successfully completed his suspension. Jay Magee picked up a yellow card on Tuesday night which sees a two game ban put in place for him however the ban period will not commence until Monday so he will be eligible. The Glens have been on good form of late, winning again on Tuesday night for the third time in little over a week against Glenavon at The Oval by 2-1. Eddie Patterson's side will be looking to build on this momentum in order to book our place in the Irish Cup Semi-Final.
Our hosts Knockbreda are sure to be up for tomorrow's game. They are having a fantastic season this campaign in IFA Championship 2, topping the table by some distance, 5 points clear with 2 games in hand. Notably, they have scored a stunning 64 goals in just 17 league games, a better conversion rate than any side in Northern Irish football this season. If that wasn't enough, the 13 goals they have conceded is still comfortably the best defence in the league too.
Newington Youth last year proved how key confidence is in football. As an amateur side high on confidence they came to The Oval with belief they could get the win. Knockbreda will have identical confidence but Eddie Patterson will undoubtedly have made that point abundantly clear to the team. Tomorrow's game is a massive opportunity for Glentoran to place ourselves on the verge of a day out to Windsor in May and a prize that should be clear in the player's minds. Tomorrow's game is sure to be a cracker!