Glentoran will be looking to put behind a disappointing ‘Big Two’ Boxing Day defeat with a huge performance on Friday.
Niall Quinn and Paul Smyth were on the scoresheet for the Blues last Saturday to give David Healy his first derby win as manager.
Glens youngster Jonathan Smith pulled one back at a waterlogged Oval with his fifth of the season, but it wasn’t enough as Linfield emerged victorious to seal their fourth successive Boxing Day triumph.
The result is a bitter blow for the Glens and boss Alan Kernaghan will need to regroup his players as they travel to Stangmore Park to take on Dungannon Swifts on New Year’s Day.
In their third matchup season, the Swifts will be determined to put an end to Glentoran’s nine game unbeaten streak between the sides.
However, Rodney McAree’s men have been struggling for form, and in their last ten outings they have only collected eight points out of a possible 30 to leave them third from bottom in the league.
The pair grabbed a share of the spoils in a 1-1 scoreline at the end of November which marked Kernaghan’s first game in charge at the Oval. Despite missing a penalty, Smith regrouped to open his Glentoran account to equalise for the hosts to cancel Andy Mitchell’s header.
The teams have met before in the New Year’s Day fixture in 2014, and it was the Glens who travelled back to East Belfast celebrating a positive start to year thanks to Willie Garrett’s goal which proved to be the decider.
Kernaghan will be hoping to replicate a similar result on Friday to begin the year on the right foot. However, he may still be without goalkeeper Elliott Morris who remains a doubt after missing the Boxing Day clash with a back issue.
Nathan Webb