FUTURE IN BALANCE

The Blues have two vital Carling Premiership matches this week as they visit Lisburn Distillery on Saturday afternoon before travelling to Seaview to take on Carrick Rangers on Tuesday, with both games now kicking off at 3pm.

Boss Gary Hamilton knows how big the two games will be as his side bid to secure Carling Premiership survival. Glenavon currently sit four points ahead of Carrick and above Dungannon Swifts on goal difference and could take a huge step towards survival with six points this week.

The Blues are fresh off the back of their 5-1 victory over Dungannon Swifts and Hamilton wants his side to carry on their good form.

“We want to bring the performance against Dungannon into this game and if we can get that type of display then there’s no reason why we can’t get the three points,” he said.

“It all depends on our attitude, work-rate and commitment. We want the three points in every game coming up to the end of the season. If we do what we can do and play the way we can play then there’s no reason why we can’t do that.”

Glenavon were 2-0 up against Distillery the last time the sides met before losing 3-2 and Hamilton says his side must use that experience to their advantage at New Grosvenor on Saturday.

“We were in a good position and then came out in the second half and ended up conceding three goals which was shocking. If we get ourselves into a winning position this time then we need to see out the game,” he said.

“We need to take on board what happened last time because the one thing about Distillery is that they go until the death and they score a lot of goals late in games.”

If the Blues are to beat Distillery, they’ll have to keep striker Gary Liggett quiet, as the former Glenavon forward has bagged 19 goals already this season.

“Liggy’s done really well and has scored a lot of goals in a struggling team,” said Hamilton.

“That’s a good sign for any player but we’ll concentrate more on our team and what we’re going to do rather than worry about the other team.

“If we perform to our capabilities then we don’t have to worry about it. It’s about getting the boys to do what we need to do to win the game. If you talk about the other team then you feel that you’re on the back foot from the start so we will just worry about our own team and get them to perform to their capabilities.”

Glenavon then travel to take on Carrick Rangers on Tuesday afternoon and the boss says that victory in that came could see them stay clear of the bottom spot for the rest of the season:

“If we beat Carrick, then it’s a massive boost in terms of avoiding last place. If we could beat Carrick then I think we would avoid finishing bottom and the worst we would do is being in a play-off. They’re all massive games now though and if we can perform to our capabilities, we can beat any team.

“It’ll be difficult to win all five games but if the boys play like they did against Dungannon then anything’s possible.”