Glentoran kick-off a double header of home league ties as they welcome high-flying Cliftonville at The Oval tomorrow.
The Glens were on the wrong side of a 5-3 score-line as they fell to their sixth defeat of the season on Monday night’s rescheduled game.
A double from Curtis Allen and a strike from Marcus Kane was not enough for the visitors as Portadown claimed victory to close the gap to within three points between the pair.
Alan Kernaghan will be looking to get back on track with a positive performance tomorrow before Linfield come to town for the festive Boxing Day derby clash.
The boss will have no concerns about his strike force after finding the net nine times in their previous three games. However, he will be hoping to stitch up a leaky defence which have shipped in seven in their previous two outings.
The East Belfast side go toe-to-toe tomorrow with a fierce Cliftonville team that are on a fine run of five league wins in a row, and they will confident of their chances.
Gerard Lyttle’s men are yet to suffer defeat since he took the helm in September and have gone 12 games unbeaten, starting from a narrow 1-0 win against the Glens at Solitude. Reds striker David McDaid scored the winner late on to give Lyttle the perfect start to life as interim manager.
The North Belfast side bolstered their squad after they announced the signing of 23-year-old striker Daniel Hughes from Warrenpoint Town this week, while Martin Murray and Johnny McMuarry head the other way on loan once the transfer window opens in January.
Skipper, Stephen McAlorum and defender Barry Holland return to the side following one match suspensions. Kym Nelson suffered a reaction to his recent injury when he returned to training and consequently will sit this one out.
Nathan Webb