Thursday 27 August 2020
Kick Off 7.45pm
The squad and management arrived safely in Lanarkshire on Wednesday morning, ahead of tonight’s UEFA Europa League Qualifying match with Motherwell at Fir Park.
This is the first time Glentoran have played ‘well in a competitive fixture and the squad acquainted themselves with Fir Park on Wednesday evening with an hour-long training session. Physio Gareth Robinson reports no injuries so Mick McDermott has a full squad to select from, apart from Willie Garrett who stayed in Belfast with the injured knee that kept him out of both last month’s Irish Cup matches and the Europa League so far.
Motherwell have had a difficult start to the SPFL season and sit tenth in the table with just two draws from their first five matches. Mick McDermott and Paul Millar saw them lose 1-0 at home to their local rivals Hamilton Academical last weekend. Manager Stephen Robinson confirmed yesterday that star midfielder David Turnbull had not trained this week and speculation was rife that he would not face Glentoran, in anticipation of a move to Celtic.
Mick McDermott told us after training: “I know Motherwell have been struggling since football restarted, but we need to give Stephen Robinson and his players immense credit for finishing third last season. For a club with their resources that was a major achievement. So, we know it’s going to be hard for us but it’s a one match tie so it’s down to whoever shows best on the night and we want that to be us.
We know there’s still a gap between the Scottish Premier League and our own, with them having been full time for so long and with the infrastructure and budgets to support that. But we’re rapidly moving in that direction as a club, so the infrastructure divide doesn’t necessarily reflect on the pitch. There is still a difference but if you compete on the day you can get results. We’ve been meticulous in our planning and we go out to win. If both teams play as they can it’ll be a great spectacle and we’re out to prove a credit to Irish League football.
Playing against this level of opposition is a testament to how far we’ve come since this time last year. A number of people completely wrote us off last season, but we significantly improved our league position over the season, won the Irish Cup and now we’re here because we’ve got through a round in Europe. That level of progress in twelve months is a credit to the players, to the people behind the scenes and obviously to our investor. We’ve come a long way, but we’ve still got a lot to do. We’ve earned the position we’re in and it provides the perfect platform for further progress in the new season. We’re really looking forward to what’s ahead of us next season.
Skipper Marcus Kane: “Although it’s still early on in the season, the three matches we’ve played so far, in the Irish Cup and against Torshavn, have all been very substantial games, fought very hard and with a lot riding on them. So, the boys have got used to playing well in tough matches and we’re ready to go and our focus is right for this massive one. It’s a pity we’ve got no fans here as I’ve no doubt if it hadn’t been for this pandemic, we’d have brought three or four thousand to Scotland. It doesn’t matter to us whether we’re favourites or underdogs as we prepare properly for every game, no matter who we’re playing”.
Remember the following ways to watch or listen to the match as it happens:
- Glentoran fans based in the UK can sign up to watch the match live with a £9.99 monthly package with Premier Sports. Subscription can be purchased at https://www.premierplayer.tv/
- Listen live on BBC Scotland and BBC Northern Ireland Sport will broadcast it online here
- Supporters based outside of the UK will be able to access the game on a pay-per-view basis for £12 via a live streaming service at https://ppv.motherwellfc.co.uk/
