Manager’s programme notes
Posted : 27th December 2021
Today we will face a very tough game and one which has generated a huge amount of interest because of the position of both teams towards the top of the league table.
All the available match tickets have been sold and no doubt, a lot more could have been sold, such has been the interest in this festive derby game against our main rivals Glentoran.
Our visitors approach the game, having been on an impressive winning run (before their visit to Coleraine which took place after this column was written), so they will arrive full of confidence and belief that they can achieve a positive result here today.
It’s sure to be a great occasion with three important points up for grabs but there’s a long way to go in this title race, so there’s a lot of hard work to be done before the honours will be decided. As important as today’s game is to both clubs, this is only the half way mark of the season and it’s shaping up to be a tight title race, with the top six all still in contention to have a major say in the final outcome of the season.
I was delighted with our 1-0 win in the pre-Christmas home game against Ballymena United. It was hard-fought and we had to survive a few nervy moments but the players showed real character to see out a hugely important win, just as we had done a few days earlier away to Larne. We had to be patient and thankfully, Christy Manzinga grabbed the all-important winning goal in the closing stages.
We were able to welcome Jamie Mulgrew, Cameron Palmer and Sam Roscoe back to the bench for the Ballymena game and hopefully, we will also have Kirk Millar, Stephen Fallon and Niall Quinn available for selection in the squad for today’s game.
Conor Pepper is making good progress and should be in contention for a return in the near future but we will be missing Ross Larkin whose planned hospital procedure last week hopefully went well. He’s been in all our thoughts and prayers.
I also hope the Swifts were able to give us a Christmas Day boost at Seaview in the Steel and Sons cup final. It’s a hugely prestigious final and one that only aid the development of our highly talented young players.
I know our supporters will get behind us today in this traditional post-Christmas derby game. It’s been another tough year because of the various issues surrounding the virus but I hope everyone has been able to enjoy as nice a Christmas as possible at home with their nearest and dearest.
I just want to take this opportunity to wish everyone connected with this club a very Happy and a very safe New Year. We will be working hard to strengthen the squad in the coming days and weeks and we will be doing all in our power to try and bring further success to this club in the New Year.