Glenavon prepare to challenge the league leaders under Friday night lights and the watchful eye of the BBC iPlayer cameras.
The Lurgan side will hope to send Larne home with the blues after their defeat on the road to Dungannon last Saturday. Gary’s men will be itching for revenge.
Speaking ahead of the game, Gary urged the need for the team to perform better on the pitch.
“The players need to put in a better performance for sure.
“Hopefully the defeat to Dungannon was a one-off because, to be fair to them, over the last seven or eight weeks they have been good.
“They’ve been putting in really good performances and they have been good to watch. I know that from watching on the sidelines that it’s been enjoyable over the last few weeks.
“But that certainly wasn’t enjoyable on Saturday. We need a lot more from them.
“It’s going to be hard with with Larne being full-time, and they won’t have been working all day and they’ll be coming into the game fresh.
“That said, we have gone and competed in other games in midweek against full-time teams.
“So the boys have to get that performance against Dungannon out of their system and they know themselves first and foremost that they need to put in a better performance than that.
“They owe the supporters for definite.”
The visitors will be out for redemption too after they were rocked by sixth place Coleraine last Friday night.
LAST TIME OUT
At the start of the season, a hopeful Glenavon side fell short in the last minute of the game after former Lurgan Blue Ben Doherty saw the game off with a penalty deep into stoppage time.
Visitors Larne took the lead in the 33rd minute after Paul O’Neill slotted his goal into an empty Glenavon net.
Glenavon replied 7 minutes later when Derry City loanee Micheal Glynn grabbed his first goal in a blue shirt, heading home the equaliser on the brink of half-time.
A turbulent second half ensued, with Glenavon being reduced to nine men in the space of 10 minutes. The hosts almost held on until the end, but were left deflated after conceding a penalty 7 minutes into injury time. Larne front man Doherty sent the keeper the wrong way, putting Larne ahead and securing their 3 points.
Garrett and Doran will miss tonight’s game due to illness, whilst A Doyle will see his name ruled out for selection due to injury.
MATCH SPONSORS
Match Sponsor: McCleary and Co. Accounts
Ball Sponsor: Lord Mayor Paul Greenfield
Man of the Match Sponsor: The Sinnamon Family
MATCH OFFICIALS
REFEREE: Christopher Morrison
ASSISTANT REFEREES: Stephen Donaldson, Brian Wilson
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Evan Boyce
