Tuesday 14th February 2023
Kick Off 7.45pm
On Tuesday evening we welcome our old rivals Linfield to the Bet McLean Oval for what will incredibly be the fifth of six meetings between the Big Two this season.
Although Saturday’s crucial win over then leaders Cliftonville has pushed Linfield to within 3 points of the league summit, David Healy’s side have experienced a mixed fortunes since the sides last met at the same venue on Boxing Day.
Two trophy winning opportunities have been lost in penalty shootout defeats to Larne in the County Antrim Shield Final and the Irish Cup 6th Round, although a chance of a Cup Final victory still remains with Coleraine visiting the National Stadium in March to contest the Bet McLean Cup Final.
In the League, comprehensive victories were recorded over bottom six sides Glenavon, Ballymena United and Portadown but only one point gained from a home game against Coleraine before defeats away to Crusaders and Cliftonville.
The Blues have won both of their visits to the Bet McLean Oval this campaign; recording a 3-0 League Cup Semi Final victory in early December before netting a late goal to secure a 2-1 league win on Boxing Day. The last Glentoran home win came just over a year ago, when a Conor McMenamin goal on the hour mark brought us an important 1-0 win which, unfortunately, we were unable to build upon as the league campaign drew to a close.
After a quiet January transfer window, Linfield pulled off the high profile signing of former Northern Ireland striker Kyle Lafferty following his release from SPFL side Kilmarnock. Having made his debut against the Reds at the weekend, Lafferty is likely to be in contention again for this game.
Rodney McAree: “At Coleraine I thought we were competitive, we had more possession, we had more territory but we didn't create as much as we wanted to ultimately I was disappointed to concede a second goal at the end of the game. We could have prevented it in several different ways. In a way it felt like two points dropped.
Linfield bring a strong and talented squad to the Oval on Tuesday for another huge league clash. And while the Blues had a very good win against Cliftonville on Saturday, in derby
games like this things can be very unpredictable. However, we know it will be a tough game and we finalised our plans for the match yesterday morning. We have a few niggles from a very physical game on Saturday but everyone should be fit.”
Tickets remain available for both home and away sections at https://www.glentoran.com/tickets
