Kim Turner is hoping to put a difficult week to bed in a positive manner as Glentoran take on Linfield in the Sports Direct Women’s Premiership this evening (kick-off 7.45pm).

The Glens suffered Boyle Sports Women’s Cup heartache on Sunday going down 4-0 to rivals Cliftonville in the showpiece final at Seaview.

Remarkably though Glentoran were back in action again just over 24 hours later as they took on Lisburn Rangers in the ToalsBet Women’s Challenge Cup quarter-finals going down 2-0 at Blanchflower Stadium.

And while Turner was disappointed to taste defeat again her frustrations were directed at the scheduling of the games as her squad face having to play four games inside seven days.

“I think the scheduling of the fixtures is really poor and really unfair on players, who are working full-time jobs as well as juggling some important games into their schedule,” said Turner.

“We are trying to do our best and prepare the squad as best we can for the games but the fact is the games have to be played.

“It doesn’t really matter if you reschedule the games as there aren’t enough available windows to give players enough time between matches.

“Uefa are really clear about the required amount of recovery time between fixtures and it makes me think, do people actually care about the women’s game?

“Our club reps are looking into it and the players have also spoken to the PFA about it and hopefully we actually see something happening as it’s not fair on the clubs.

“We have a UEFA Champions League game coming up against Riga FC on July 22 with the play-off final set for three days later and on top of that we have a League game against Linfield on the 24th.

“The Champions League qualifiers don’t seem to have been factored into the fixture schedule at all and that’s unfair on the likes of ourselves who want to give a good account of not only ourselves, but the league and country as a whole.”

Despite the recent disappointments against Cliftonville and Lisburn Rangers, Turner is hoping her side can finish the week on a positive note when they travel to Midgley Park on Friday night.

“When you suffer a disappointment you want to put it behind you as quickly as possible,” said the Glens boss.

“Monday night’s game came around very quickly after Sunday’s final, but it gave us the chance to rotate the squad and give opportunities to players who haven’t had many minutes this season, along with some of our reserve team players.

“They all acquitted themselves really well and there were plenty of positives for us to take from the performance despite the result.

“Now our full focus is on Friday night. There’s no better game to get us going again than against Linfield, but we know it’s going to be another real test for us.

“They are currently top of the league and they are there on merit having lost only one game so far and that was a narrow defeat to Cliftonville back in May.

“They will be relishing the game as they will see it as a real opportunity to inflict a bit more pain on us so we have to make sure that we don’t allow that to happen.

“Up until Sunday we had won every game we had played domestically and it was a record we were proud of, but records are there to be got at.

“What we have to do now is go on another run and put these defeats behind us as there are some really big games coming up for us over the next few weeks.

“We have to block out any outside noise and focus on what we have to do ourselves as that’s the only thing we are in control of.

“We are a talented squad who are capable of great things, but we have to go out and show that on the pitch by producing a performance that will be good enough to get us a win.”