Friday 19th January
Kick Off 7.45pm
Third meeting of the season on Friday evening when we travel to Mourneview Park.
Glenavon will be looking to bounce back from the disappointment of missing out on a major Final, after Tuesday’s 1-0 loss at Mourneview Park to Championship neighbours Portadown saw them eliminated in the NIFL League Cup Semi Final. The Lurgan side have, however, enjoyed a significant improvement in their league form since Stephen McDonnell took over from the long serving Gary Hamilton at the end of September; Saturday’s 2-0 win at Carrick taking them into the top 6 on a run that has seen them secure 7 wins from 12 since the sides last met at the Oval in October, a 3-1 Glens win with goals from Junior (2) and Paddy McClean.
The previous fixture at Mourneview Park on the opening day of the season saw late drama as Glentoran grabbed all 3 points deep into stoppage time, Jay Donnelly tapping home a low cross from Shay McCartan from close range. With 8 players brought in and 8 departures already in this transfer window, it is likely to be a Glenavon side with a much-changed team on display from the 2 games earlier in the campaign.
Recent signing Gareth Deane will be hoping for a recall to the side after the goalkeeper missed the Portadown game because he was cup tied. His place was taken by fellow recent signing Mark Byrne. Experienced midfielder Robert Garrett will be hoping for a recall to the starting lineup but former Glens utility player Sean Ward could miss out again, having not featured in the last 3 games. If so, recent signing David Toure is likely to continue in his place.
Warren Feeney: “Last week’s 6-0 win over Coleraine was a great performance and result. It was great to see Ollie keep a clean sheet but the defence has been playing well all season despite the number of injury inflicted changes. Same with the midfield. There were great individual performances all over the pitch but it was great to see the forwards do so well and to take so many of their chances. We need to kick on from that.
Glenavon have been very strong lately. I know they exited the Bet McLean Cup during the week, but since Stephen came in as Manager a few months ago you have to give him a lot of credit for taking them from where they were and moving them into the top six last week. It’ll be a tough game as obviously they’ll want a response from Tuesday night, but we need to go into the game full of confidence after last week’s performance and given that we’re on a good run of form. Also we’ve a lot of players coming back to fitness. That’s a real bonus for me and the squad.”
Tickets for this game can be purchased HERE from the Glenavon website.
