Crusaders v Glentoran
Saturday 2nd November, 3.00pm.
On Saturday we visit Seaview, exactly two months after the heavy defeat at the Oval that brought to a sharp end our strong start to the season.
Our record against second placed Crusaders in recent years is not one to be proud of, our last win over them coming in the Charity Shield in September 2015. On our last visit to Seaview, a year ago this weekend, we drew 2-2 with only a late equaliser from Richard Clarke depriving us of a deserved win. We will need to play much better than of late to get something from this match against the in form Crues. A significant improvement is the very least all Glentoran supporters will expect.
Manager Gary Haveron said: “I was very unhappy with the result last week against Ards. We had 3 or 4 very good chances to take an early lead but we didn’t take them. Then some very sloppy defending and individual mistakes let us down and we never managed to get control back as Ards were able to close ranks after their first goal. The supporters were entitled to feel let down by that. So did I.
This week we’ll have Marcus Kane, Calum Birney and Nathan Kerr all back in contention which will strengthen us in a few key areas. They’ve all been badly missed. Curtis and James Knowles are suspended while Ross isn’t ready yet and Tiarnan will be out for a few weeks after he pulled his hamstring against Ards. Stevie Gordon is also unavailable. Its never good to miss important players but it might give a chance to good lads like Eoghan McCawl and Bobo Smith who’ve been patient waiting for a start.
I never ask players to do what I don’t think they’re capable of doing but I do want to see them show a lot more resilience and fight than last week. We also need to show complete commitment from the start against the most in form team in the league. They’ve all worked hard and trained well this week so we can go to Seaview in a positive, focused frame of mind and I’m confident the lads who come in and the returning players will make us more solid than we’ve been.”
