Glenavon travels to take on second-placed Coleraine tomorrow (Saturday) and this is quickly followed by a trip to the Bangor Fuels Arena on Tuesday (7:45pm kick off) for the re-arranged game with Ards after the original game, which the Lurgan Blues were leading 2-0, was abandoned early in the second half as Storm Eleanor posed a risk to the safety of players and supporters.

Coleraine has had the better of the two games so far, winning the previous fixture at Ballycastle Road 4-2 before drawing 2-2 at Mourneview Park. The latter game saw Glenavon twice come from behind despite playing with ten men for the majority of the match, James Singleton having been sent off after just 15 minutes.

It’s ‘one game at a time’ for Gary Hamilton as he prepares for tomorrows game. “The game at Coleraine was one of the few this season which I felt we got what we deserved, as Coleraine absolutely battered us that day and we didn’t deserve to come way with anything from that game. Our performances have been a lot better since that and we’ve put in a lot of consistency in our performances so we’re going there tomorrow to show we’re not as bad a team as the first time.

“Hopefully we have learnt from that performance and we are certainly good enough to go there and take three points,” Gary told us. “After last week’s excellent performance against Dungannon in the Irish Cup, we will go there tomorrow in a confident mood but we know it won’t be an easy game. We know that, if we don’t perform, then Coleraine will certainly turn us over because Oran Kearney has them playing superb this year. They’ve been one of the top teams in the league this year and they’re the team that everyone wants to beat – that’s what happens when you’re at the top. It’s not a surprise given the way the finished last season and they have carried that form into this season. In terms of points won during the calendar year 2017, they are probably the outstanding team. They’ll want to win to keep the pressure on Crusaders and we want to win to keep hold of third place and see where it takes us. We want to win tomorrow and that’s what we go into every game looking for.”

Andrew Doyle returns to the squad after missing out last week with a back problem and Josh Daniels returned to training this week but will get a game in the Reserves in midweek. Simon Kelly is recovering from a calf strain and Gary is hoping he’ll soon have a full squad to choose from as the games come thick and fast over the next few weeks.

Andrew Doyle scored in his last two games but missed the Irish Cup game last weekend through injury. Photo by Alan Weir

Form Guide

Last 5 League Games

Coleraine: D W D W D

Glenavon: L D W D D

Head to Head

Last 10 games (all competitions)

Glenavon: W 4 D 3 L 3 F16 A13

For those who are aren’t making the journey to Coleraine tomorrow our Reserves have a League game against their Coleraine counterparts. Kick off at MVP is 2 pm, weather permitting.