Captain’s Column

COLERAINE captain Stephen O’Donnell acknowledges that the manner of last weekend’s defeat to Glenavon was disappointing and has welcomed Jamie Glackin to The Showgrounds…

The result last week was an extremely frustrating one which can’t happen again. The boys are disappointed that we lost a game that we had prepared well for and we were full of confidence that we could turn Glenavon over. Obviously that wasn’t the case and we lost the game. But by giving away soft goals, we didn’t stay in the game long enough to give ourselves a chance to win it. This week against Dungannon can’t come quick enough and as a group, the opportunity to repay the manager and you, the fans, for last week is one that we’re looking forward too. That for me was something to be proud of last week. Take away the performance and the result. The fans that travelled made themselves heard and didn’t stop singing. At 4-0 down I could still hear the drum and voices singing loud and outweighing anything from the home support. That’s why there can’t be a repeat of last week any time in the near future. A lot has been made of the support this season, but for those of you who travelled on Friday, we owe you a performance and a result. You deserve three points on Saturday and the boys know that and are desperate to deliver.

Having Parky and James both back on the bench and Lyndon back on the pitch on Friday were real positives and that only helps us going forward. Lyndon deserves a huge amount of credit for the hard work and the mental strength he has showed since the re-occurrence of his injury. We all hope that is behind him now and he can have a long run in the team, injury free and get back to his best week in week out, that’s the least he deserves. The gaffer having further options to change games and an increased competition for places can only improve individual and collective performances. The pressure of having to perform week after week to keep your place only makes you work harder as a player. As the manager has already mentioned, incomings in January will only help to strengthen this competition and hopefully kick us onto another level.

You deserve three points on Saturday and the boys know that and are desperate to deliver.

With that in mind Rodney had made the first step to improving us as a squad by bringing Jamie Glackin into the club. As a group of players we’re all delighted to welcome him to the club. Another quality attacking player that can only add to the creativity and goal scoring threat we have. I’m sure he will fit in well with all the boys and I’m sure you are all excited to see him in a Coleraine kit. Rodney knows him well from his time at Dungannon and I’m confident Rodney can bring the best out of him again and help us push on.

Finally, this week’s game against Dungannon will be one that we want all three points from. We owe ourselves, the gaffer and you all a performance. Hopefully we can deliver that and we can have a Merry Christmas as Bannsiders and then go again on Boxing Day and get another big performance and three points.

Thanks for all your support, Merry Christmas from all the boys. We appreciate everything you do for us as a club.

C’mon the Bannsiders!

Stephen O’Donnell