Glenavon will make their longest away trip of the season on Saturday as they travel to the Coleraine Showgrounds.
It’s been less than two weeks since the teams last met at Mourneview Park, with the game finishing 1-1. Since then Glenavon were held by Larne and thumped Dungannon Swifts at Stangmore Park, while Coleraine bounced back from a 2-1 loss to Coleraine with a 2-0 win over Larne.
The Showgrounds has been an unwelcoming place for Glenavon sides over the last 10 years, with only three wins to show for their journeys there during that time. However, confidence is high once again in the Glenavon camp following Tuesday’s 4-0 win.
“Oran Kearney’s teams have been hard to beat over the last three-to-four years. They’ve been flying and on Saturday we’ll need to be at the top of our game,” said Lurgan Blues boss Gary Hamilton.
“To be fair to our boys they’ve done rightly recently. We played Coleraine the other week so we know a wee bit about them. We were decent against them, we were decent against Larne and on Tuesday against Dungannon Swifts we were very good.
“Hopefully we can take that into Saturday, the boys can take confidence from those performances and we can try and take something from the game.”
Conan Byrne is out following on from the injury he sustained during Tuesday’s win, while Calvin Douglas is said to be struggling, although it is hoped that he will be able to take a place on the bench.
Saturday’s game is once again behind closed doors but supporters can see the game on 247.tv/niprem for £7.
MATCH OFFICIALS
REFEREE: Tim Marshall
ASSISTANT REFEREES: K Ross, J Doherty
FOURTH OFFICIAL: B Monaghan
LAST TIME OUT: Glenavon and Coleraine drew 1-1 at Mourneview Park on Tuesday, March 23.
Both goals came in the second half, with Matthew Fitzpatrick giving the Lurgan Blues the lead when he scored against his former club on 52 minutes, while Stephen Lowry’s deflected effort on 76 minutes ensured the Bannsiders left Lurgan with a point.