Captain’s Call

COLERAINE defender Stephen O’Donnell knows he and his team-mates can’t afford to start the game slowly as they are the visitors to Cliftonville tomorrow afternoon…

The Bannsiders were below par for the first hour in last Tuesday’s draw against Glenavon as Stephen Lowry’s strike cancelled out Matthew Fitzpatrick’s close range finish to earn Coleraine a point at Mourneview Park.

The skipper acknowledged post-match that Glenavon were the dominant team for the first 60 minutes but believes it may prove to be a crucial point come the end of the campaign.

“When you look at it, I think Glenavon played pretty well especially in the first half and were good value for taking the lead,” he said.

“Disappointingly for us it took us until going 1-0 down to get going and looking like ourselves.

“I thought after 60 minutes or so we turned up and went after the game again.

“When Stephen Lowry scored we really stepped up to get a winner and it’s disappointing we couldn’t grab all three points.

“However, when you look back at it in a couple of week’s time, it might be a point gained because how well Glenavon played as they’re a good side.”

The Stripes created a host of chances after Lowry’s equaliser on Tuesday and O’Donnell will be hoping that his team-mates can be more prolific in front of goal in North Belfast.

“I did see a winner coming,” he added.

“There was a feeling on the pitch amongst the boys after Stevie scored the equaliser that we would go on and win the game.

“Parky had a flick on well saved and James won’t mind me saying this but he could have done better with his chance.

“There was a real belief and desire to win the game which was pleasing, but you can’t take sixty minutes to start a game of football.”

O’Donnell labelled the current schedule as ‘tough’ but insists there will be no excuses from anyone connected with the club.

“The schedule is tough and it’s a big ask for us,” he concluded.

“As players we are always happy to play games and get out on the pitch as much as we can instead of training, but it’s tough for those who are part-time to work 40 hours a week, see your family and then play football on top of that.

“However, we have no complaints about it, we keep grinding and we keep going.

“We are looking forward to Cliftonville who had a night off on Tuesday and I’m sure they’re raring to go, but for us, it’s about ticking the games off.

“If we want to be where we want to be, we need to go and win on Saturday.”