THE PEAK DISTRICT

Glenavon peering down at the rest from league summit but the boss warns they have it all to do to stay there

GLENAVON boss Gary Hamilton has warned his players they’ll have to be at their best to remain at the top of the table this evening.

Darren Mullen’s (below) Newry, who have lost all five away league games this season, are 9/1 to cause an upset against the top flight pacesetters.

But Hamilton is taking nothing for granted as the Lurgan Blues bid to build on a vibrant start to the campaign and stay a point clear of Linfield at the summit.

Ahead of today’s late 5pm kickoff at Mourneview Park, he said: “Newry caused us problems the last time we met in August and I know this will be another very difficult game.

“We may have beaten them

(2-1) that night, but they were really difficult opponents and we were lucky to come away with three points. I won’t hide from that fact.

“That was probably the game we struggled most in all season, so it’ll be a challenge.”

While Glenavon have been a pleasure to watch – they’re top scorers in the division with 28 goals in 11 games – Hamilton has been pleased with his team’s doggedness.

Despite low par displays against Newry 10 weeks ago and in last week’s 2-1 win at Glentoran amidst a flurry of red cards, they managed to pick up maximum points.

He said: “The two most disappointing performances for us were the Newry game and last week when we weren’t at our best.

“It was frustrating at The Oval, but I thought the boys showed a lot of mettle and a good spirit and attitude to get the win.

“The good thing for me is that in those two games, while we weren’t at the top of our game, we ground out results and picked up maximum points. That’s a positive.”

Since losing to Linfield on the opening day of the season, Glenavon have won nine and drawn one of their last 10 league games.

“It’s a great run and the players deserve a lot of credit,” said Hamilton.“our only league defeat so far was against Linfield and that was a game we deserved to win, or at least get a point from. We were very good that day.”

One player pivotal to Glenavon’s table topping charge is Northern Ireland under-21 midfielder Mark Sykes who seems to get better with every game.

But Hamilton fears the talented Belfast lad has become a marked man.

He said: “Sykesy seemed to be targeted [against Glentoran] and he received a lot of rough treatment, but I thought he was outstanding. He’s got character and talent in equal measure.”

CLIFTONVILLE boss Barry Gray is eager the Reds address their poor away form with a statement performance at Coleraine (3pm).Since beating Glentoran 2-1 at The Oval on the opening day of the season, the North Belfast club has taken just one point from four subsequent away games.They have lost their last three on their travels against Newry City, Warrenpoint Town and Crusaders, while a midweek defeat to the Crues in the Shield compounded Gray’s (above) frustrations.He said: “It’s clear where we need to improve and we need to take pride in doing the ugly side of the game well.“We need to be more solid and manage the game better than we have been doing. The likes of Coleraine, Crusaders, Linfield or Glenavon all do the ugly side of things.“Coleraine’s home record is good and our form away from home is very poor so we are under no illusions about how difficult it will be.”Elsewhere today, Crusaders travel to Ballymena looking to bounce back in the league following last week’s 1-0 defeat at the Coleraine Showgrounds.Crues boss Stephen Baxter said: “Ballymena got a draw at our place in August and David knows how to set his teams up really well, so they’ll be very difficult to beat.”Ske Blues boss Jeffrey warned: “Crusaders will be hoping to make up for the disappointment of losing at Coleraine, so it’s probably not the best time to be playing them. It’ll be very, very tough,”Glentoran will look to end a five game winless streak in all competitions when they host Ards at The Oval, while Warrenpoint Town are at home to Institute.TODAY’S GAMES: BallymenaUnited v Crusaders; Coleraine v Cliftonville; Dungannon Swifts v Linfield; Glentoran v Ards; Warrenpoint Town v Institute; Glenavon v Newry City. DREAM RISES TO THE TOP Gary Hamilton is delighted with his players who are top of the league table NO MERCY Stephen Murray has been on top form recently for league leaders Glenavon