Glenavon have to start homing in on the big hitters, admits Mitchell
GLENAVON striker Andrew Mitchell will be seeking some home comforts on Friday night against Ballymena United at Mourneview Park.
The Lurgan Blues have won both of their away games this season — at Warrenpoint and Newry — but lost their opening league game on their own patch to Linfield.
There was a similar pattern at the end of last season when home form was patchy and on the road they were excellent.
The match with Ballymena, who will be playing their fourth away game on the trot due to ongoing work at the Showgrounds, presents Gary Hamilton’s men with an opportunity to turn things around at Mourneview.
Striker Mitchell, with two goals in the bag from the first three games, said: “Our away form is very good, as was the case last season, but our home form has to improve this year and it’s something we are targeting.
“It didn’t start off too well against Linfield, and it was disappointing to lose that game, but there are a lot of matches to come and hopefully our home form will pick up.”
While Ballymena have been in free-scoring form — picking up seven points from their opening three fixtures — Glenavon have impressive firepower themselves, with Mitchell and forward partner Stephen Donnelly dangerous, willing wingers Josh Daniels and Andy Hall capable of creating havoc and the quality of Mark Sykes ghosting into the box from midfield.
“Mark Sykes is just a class player. He has pace, skill and he can score goals. I’m sure someone across the water will take a chance on him at some stage. There’s still plenty of time for him,” said Mitchell.
“In terms of going forward, we are a good unit. Josh and Andy produce good deliveries and it’s enjoyable playing for Glenavon because we have so much attacking flair.”
Mitchell will enter the Friday night affair with David Jeffrey’s men on the back of helping Waringstown Cricket Club win the All-Ireland T20 title, in what is becoming another hugely successful season for them. • LINFIELD manager David Healy has announced that forward Jordan Stewart has been made available to other clubs.
Stewart (left) joined the Blues at the start of last season.