Glentoran’s march towards a fifth place league finish continues tomorrow when they travel to Solitude to face Cliftonville.
A 10 point return from their last four games has helped propel the Glens to within a touching distance from Coleraine, who sit above them in fifth spot in the Danske Bank Premiership.
Despite an inconsistent start to 2016, the season is far from over for the East Belfast side, who are still in contention of qualifying for Europe via the play-offs.
Alan Kernaghan’s men made a big step towards catching Coleraine by claiming four points from the Bannsider’s during a double-header of fixtures, narrowing the gap to six points.
Last Saturday’s clash ended in deadlock between the sides after Jonathan Smith's penalty cancelled out James McLaughlin’s opener at the Showgrounds.
The Glens felt they should have claimed all three points available, but were unable to convert their chances. They then had to rely upon Elliot Morris in goal, who made a superb last save to deny Coleraine’s Jamie MGonigle to ensure his side travelled back to East Belfast with something from the game.
In hopes of closing the distance, the Irish Cup reigning champions make the short trip to North Belfast to clash with Gerard Lyttle’s Cliftonville side who are in a good run of form themselves.
The Reds have claimed seven points from their last four games, and last week leapfrogged Glenavon to third after beating the Lurgan Blues 3-1. Lyttle and his men will be focused on maintaining their position with a similar result tomorrow.
Cliftonville have beat the Glens on two occasions in the league this season, the latest coming on Glentoran’s home soil in a comprehensive 2-0 win thanks to goals from Jay Donnelly and Stephen Garrett.
The Glens squad will be without Calum Birney and Chris Lavery for the game tomorrow, who both miss out through injury.
Nathan Webb