Tim McCann praised Glentoran for producing the response demanded of them as a convincing 3–1 victory over Linfield secured a place in the quarter-finals of the County Antrim Shield.

With manager Declan Devine absent through illness, first-team coach McCann and assistant manager Paddy McCourt took charge of the team at The BetMcLean Oval.

Jordan Jenkins struck twice inside the opening four minutes to give the Glens a commanding lead. Charlie Chapman pulled one back for Linfield in the second half, but substitute Cal Weatherup restored the two-goal advantage with 14 minutes remaining.

McCann revealed that the players had been challenged to make a statement after Saturday’s 2–1 defeat to Crusaders.

“We spoke about it before the game,” he said. “If we want to win anything, as disappointing as the result was on Saturday, we certainly don’t want to lose two games in a row. We had to bounce back.

“Linfield changed their team and we changed a few players as well, while still having a lot of injuries.

“It was about telling the players to go and make a statement. Go and give those supporters something to cheer about because, at the end of the day, it’s a Big Two game.

“I don’t care which teams are selected or which individuals are involved, it’s a Big Two game and you want to win.

“To be fair to the boys, they flew out of the traps and scored the two early goals.”

Jenkins opened the scoring inside two minutes, finishing from James Douglas’ lay-off, before doubling Glentoran’s advantage from close range after Daniel Larmour headed Ryan Cooney’s free-kick back across goal.

McCann was also delighted with the performance of Ciaran Rogers-Duffy, who was handed a start on the left side of the Glentoran defence.

“I thought Ciaran was excellent,” he said. “To come in and play in a Big Two game isn’t easy. It isn’t easy for a senior player, never mind a young lad.

“He did extremely well. He got up and down the line, put in a couple of good crosses and defended when he had to.

“We’re still waiting on players to come back and we moved James Singleton into midfield. When you can put young lads into a game like this and trust them, it helps.”

Singleton was forced off during the first half after taking another knock to an ankle he had injured against Crusaders, but McCann confirmed that his withdrawal was precautionary.

“He hurt his ankle on Saturday and then took a tackle after around 20 or 25 minutes,” he explained.

“We just didn’t want to take a chance with him. He’s too important for us, especially with Friday night coming up, so it was purely precautionary.”

Weatherup completed the scoring late in the second half, while Lekan Sule and Jack Faloona were also given valuable minutes from the bench.

McCann welcomed the contribution of Glentoran’s young players and reserved particular praise for Douglas following an impressive display in midfield.

“It was great to get Cal on the pitch and it was great to get Lekan and Jack on as well,” he said.

“People think James Douglas is a senior player now, but he’s still a young lad. I thought he was absolutely sensational. I thought he was good on Saturday as well.

“It’s great to get all these lads on the pitch and allow some of the other boys to rest.

“Cal scored his goal through pure instinct, reacting inside the area and getting the finish.

When we’re down on bodies, it’s important that we can rely on these lads.”

Glentoran now return to Premiership action with a trip to Inver Park to face Larne on Friday evening.

Jordan Stewart will be available again, while McCann hopes further players will return from injury ahead of another important test.

“It’s a massive game,” he said. “We haven’t beaten Larne for a while, but it’s great to have Conor back and we’ll have Jordan Stewart back as well.

“We’ll see what other bodies we can get out of the treatment room. We’re looking forward to it and we’re going to give it a go.”