Hamilton eager for Lurgan Blues to
FOR the second week in a row, Glenavon boss Gary Hamilton was delighted with the performance but the bare statistics show they have picked up just one point from the two games and this was their third straight loss away from Mourneview Park.
The Lurgan Blues remain comfortable in third and if they win their match in hand — the return game against Cliftonville — they are still just two points off the top of the Premiership table. But the ace striker knows they have to tighten up their defence if they are to get back on the winning trail. They have conceded 11 goals in their last four league games, after letting in just 14 from their first 14 matches.
“Resultsarenotwhatwewant but I can’t say anything about the performance,” said Hamilton, who said after the match that Glenavon are expecting an improved bid for midfielder Mark Sykes from Port Vale.
“We were probably the better team for 75 minutes but it’s back to the problem of conceding sloppy goals which has been going on for five or six matches.”
He has been forced to play James Singleton, a natural wingback, in central defence for the last couple of matches but Hamilton stood up for his versatile player and young centre-back colleague Caolan Marron.
“If a striker misses a chance it doesn’t always cost you a game but if a defender makes a mistake, like the first goal after five minutes, it costs you a goal (Marron let Rory Donnelly in goalside and the in-form striker made no mistake). That can affect a young player’s confidence but after that I thought Marron was excellent and beside him I thought James Singleton was our best player.
“Singy has 150 games under his belt and he played at Windsor Park last year at centre-half