Following last weekend's disappointing result at Portadown, Glentoran face Ballinamallard United at the Oval this weekend in the Danske Bank Premiership.
'One player's misfortune is another's opportunity' - it's a football cliche but one which is certainly very relevant for Eddie Patterson's side on Saturday afternoon. The manager was already aware that due to players accumulating 5 yellow cards, Stephen McAlorum, Niall Henderson and Fra McCaffrey were already ruled out of this fixture. A red card for Calum Birney at Shamrock Park last Saturday means that he sits this one out too. Add to that injurys to Jay Magee and Jim O'Hanlon and Glentoran really are down to the bare bones but others from the squad will get their chance to step in and with the big Christmas fixtures looming against Cliftonville and Linfield, they'll have a chance to make their mark and give the manager a selection headache.
The two sides have met in both the Danske Bank Premiership and Wasp Solutions League Cup already this season. Both games were played at Ferney Park. In the league fixture the home side took an early lead (Anthony Elding) before Jay Magee and Curtis Allen put Glentoran in front. Late in injury time the Mallards grabbed an equaliser through their skipper, Mark Stafford. You can see the goals from that game again on BBC Sport NI HERE . In the cup tie Ballinamallard Utd again took a first half lead through Johnny Lafferty but Curtis Allen levelled for Glentoran. Neither side could grab a winner and the game was decided on a penalty shoot-out with the Mallards going through to the semi-final where they'll have a home game against Ballymena Utd.
Kick-off is 3pm. Supporters are reminded that tickets for the Boxing Day game against Linfield will be on sale - details HERE