Friday 4 October
Kick Off 7.45pm
Tomorrow we end the first round of games in the Sports Direct Premiership with a visit to Windsor Park for the first Big Two game of the season.
Linfield had one of the quietest transfer windows in the Irish League this summer, with only four new arrivals and seven departures. Two of those signings are players returning to The National Stadium for second spells; defender Sam Roscoe after spending last season with National League club Altrincham and midfielder Charlie Allen coming back 4 years after departing for Leeds United. Defender Scott Whiteside from Ballymena United and attacking midfielder Cammy Ballantyne from Scottish side St Johnstone.
Midfielder Kyle McClean is likely to return to the starting eleven after being rested for Tuesday’s 3-0 League Cup win against Dundela at Wilgar Park, but Ryan McKay and Rhys Annett will both be doubtful after being substituted in the first half of that game.
Those injuries will give manager David Healy a further headache with Ben Hall, Sam Roscoe, Stephen Fallon, Darragh McBrien, Robbie McDaid and Chris McKee all having missed out recently due to injury.
Both of last season’s meetings between the sides at The National Stadium ended in straightforward 2-0 wins for Linfield. The last win for Glentoran in this fixture was in October 2022, when a Bobby Burns strike and a brace from striker Danny Purkis cemented a 3-0 victory.

Declan Devine: “The Bet McLean Cup win over Dergview won’t live long in the memory but it gave us the chance to give a start to the young lads Johnny, Charlie and Harry a start and they all took it very well. Same with James Douglas when he came on. Charlie’s goal was a great run and finish and the other two lads were very solid in defence.
“Linfield are very much the team to beat at the moment, but there’s always an extra element in this game so we must make sure we give ourselves the best chance of winning by approaching it positively from the start with the right mentality for a big game. Between Elliott, Tim and myself on the coaching team we have plenty of experience of Big Two games with Glentoran and we’ve been sharing that. The things we’ve been addressing have involved how we stop making soft, unforced errors in defence and the need to be more clinical when we get the ball forward.
“Paddy McLean missed the last couple of games with an ankle injury. He visited a specialist in midweek and thankfully it is not as severe as first thought. We won’t play him unless he’s 100% as he’s an important player for us. We rested Cammy Palmer and Dylan Connolly against Dergview, so they’ll be fresh and ready to go tomorrow night.”
Remaining tickets for this game can be purchased HERE.

Photography by JOHNNY CALDWELL