GLENAVON V LINFIELD, A LOOK AHEAD

On Tuesday 20th August 2024 Glenavon faces Linfield at Mourneview Park. It is the Lurgan Blues’ third competitive fixture of the new season.

Linfield has won its opening two Sports Direct Premiership fixtures – versus Ballymena United (2-0) and Dungannon Swifts (3-1). It has brought in four new players – Charlie Allen (ex-Leeds United), Cammy Ballantyne (ex-St. Johnstone), Sam Roscoe (Altrincham) and Scot Whiteside (ex-Ballymena United). Matthew Clarke (Livingston), Aodhan Doherty (Blackburn Rovers), Daniel Finlayson (Livingston), Braiden Graham (Everton), Michael Newberry (Cliftonville) and Jordan Stewart (Crusaders) have moved on.

Although Glenavon lost 2-1 against Cliftonville in its last outing, the team produced an encouraging performance. “I thought that we played well for large parts of the game,” said manager Stephen McDonnell. “We worked very hard, stayed in the match even though we were behind for much of it and showed lots of quality. The longer the play went on the better we became. At the end we were the dominant side and, in my opinion, were unfortunate not to take a point.”

“There were lots of good attacking moves, crosses and shots, etc,” he continued. “We probably need to improve the quality of the balls we put into the box and be more accurate with our shooting. But I am confident that that will come.” The Dundalk man reckons that the last thirty minutes against Cliftonville is the template going forward. “The challenge is to take what we did during that part of the match and replicate it from early on. Linfield finished runner-up in the Sports Direct Premiership last season. It will probably be an even more formidable opponent than the Solitude men. “Linfield has some of the best players and is amongst the best teams in the country. They will pose plenty of problems,” said Stephen. “But, after having done well against Cliftonville, we have to try to do what we did on Saturday again whilst cutting out the defensive mistakes which cost us. It will not be easy, but we will do our very best.”

Glenavon’s Jack Malone is obviously an absentee. There are also doubts about the fitness of Harry Lynch, Mark Haughey and David McDaid. “We will assess all three on Monday night,” added McDonnell. “Mark is still recovering from a major injury. I am not sure if he is up to the level which would allow him to play three games in eight days. That is something which we need to discuss. However, if he is not in the starting line-up, he should be amongst the substitutes.”

Chairman Glenn Emerson expects another difficult match on Tuesday night:

It has been a tough start in terms of opening fixtures, and it gets no easier with the visit of Linfield.

It was encouraging to see a good turnout of supporters for the game against Cliftonville. Stephen and the players are working hard. The training sessions have been superb. We can all see the brand of football which he wants to bring. On Saturday there were really positive signs in the second half. Late on, we had strong claims for a penalty-kick. Overall, we were unfortunate not to draw the fixture.

Linfield represent as tough an opponent as we could face. We will need to be at our best if we are to collect any points. Please come to the game and get behind the lads. Your encouragement and vocal support could make the difference.

Enjoy the match.

Glenn.