Hamilton bids to fire patched-up Lurgan Blues’ top six push

GLENAVON boss Gary Hamilton believes victory over Coleraine at Mourneview Park tonight is vital if his boys are to remain in touch with the top six.

The Lurgan Blues lost ground at the weekend when they were narrowly beaten by Glentoran on a day they were heavily depleted because of suspension and injury.

In contrast, Oran Kearney’s Bannsiders stretched their unbeaten run to 15 games with a hard-fought win over Carrick Rangers to keep the pressure on Danske Bank Premiership table-toppers Linfield.

“Coleraine are a top side, and they are flying at the minute,” said Hamilton.

“In my opinion, they will be one of the teams up there fighting it out for the league title along with Linfield and Glentoran.

“You never get an easy game against Oran Kearney’s side, we haven’t done through the years and we are not expecting any different on Tuesday night. But it’s important we bounce back after Saturday’s result, we need to keep in touch with the teams above us.”

Hamilton admits he was down ‘to the bare bones’ in terms of personnel at The Oval and added: “We are struggling for bodies at the minute because of suspension and injury.

“Andrew Doyle played with a back injury and we were trying to protect him the best we can.

“He picked up a yellow card, which rules him out of the Coleraine game.

“On the plus side, Sean Ward and Peter Campbell will be back from suspension, while Colin

Coates should be fit again. We were depleted at The Oval. We went there to try and stay in the game as long as possible. Michael O’connor made a mistake to give them their second goal, he’ll never make that mistake again in his career, it was just one of those things that happened.

“The second half was scrappy, with very little happening. Glentoran got a third goal, but it was clearly offside. That was the killer for us and that was the frustrating thing for me. The linesman and the referee made a massive mistake and it cost us the game.

“I’m not saying we would have got back into the game, but that decision cost us any chance of getting back into it. There was no point in trying to talk to the officials, it was that embarrassing. I think they’ll realise that when they watch it back. Perhaps I’ll get a telephone call of apology.”