Friday 21st January 2022
Kick Off 7.45pm
Tomorrow night we follow up our excellent win at Cliftonville with a second trip of the week to North Belfast with the season’s third Danske Bank Premiership meeting with Crusaders and our second at Seaview. The Crues are currently in fourth place in the table, seven points behind ourselves, so Stephen Baxter and his men will be determined to stop the gap from widening further.
Striker Johnny McMurray has missed the Crues’ last three matches as the Seaview men have gone through a stop start run hindered by Covid related postponements. Manager Baxter started last week’s win at Warrenpoint without any of his recognised frontmen, with Adam Leckey introduced just after the hour and Jordan Owens left unused. At the other end of the pitch, Crusaders have only conceded one goal in their last eight matches in all competitions. It has been 545 minutes since they last conceded, and they have kept six clean sheets in a row since losing to Glenavon at the end of November.
Stephen Baxter has so far made few changes to his squad in the January window; former Glentoran left back Johnny Black has been released but Ballymena midfielder Jude Winchester has signed, and he will be hoping to start this game after making his debut as a substitute at Milltown at the weekend.
Mick McDermott: “We had a great win on Tuesday night against a very good, very well coached Cliftonville team who worked hard all night and attacked us hard. Our players stood firm all over the pitch, scored two quality goals from Jay, and defended brilliantly when the Reds piled on the pressure late in the game. Our front three of Jay, Rory and Robbie worked brilliantly all night and we scored our goals as very good times. I need to pay tribute to the two Donnelly boys who insisted on playing despite the sad time their family was having. Playing is one thing but to put in the performances they did on Monday night showed incredible character and also showed what Glentoran means to them.
People were writing Crusaders off in the early stages of the season but right from the start I refused to do that, and I insisted they would be in the mix when it matters. They have good, experienced, hardened, honest, hardworking players with a lot of character who’ve seen everything before and achieved a lot with their club. Every time we play them it’s a hell of a game and I don’t expect tomorrow night to be any different.
We’ll have Seanan and Shay suspended for this one, but the good news is that Conor Mac has finished his suspension and he’s ready to go. We have no injury worries apart from the couple of long-term ones, and another good piece of news is that Moko is in full training with the first team and is nearly ready to come into consideration. He’ll be like a new player when we get him fit.”
Entry to the stadium
Glentoran supporters will enter the stadium by the following two gates, both on the Shore Road
GATE A (COMMUNITY GATE AT TRAFFIC LIGHTS) IS FOR ENTRY TO THE FONACAB STAND
GATE B (SHORE ROAD, ST VINCENT STREET CORNER) IS FOR ENTRY TO THE SOUTH STAND
There are still a small number of tickets available. These can be purchased online HERE in advance, or tomorrow from Harry D’s bar at Seaview (staff onsite from 9am)
