Soares to get by with a little help from his Ports friends

McFall can boast a fine track record in finding forwards and Soares has made impressive progress up the youth ranks to become an established part of this season’s first-team squad.

A challenge on Soares helped Portadown defeat Linfield on Friday courtesy of a penalty kick and the striker also proved central to the action in Monday’s loss to Ballinamallard United.

McFall is confident Soares will only improve within a Ports panel packed with experience and medals.

“Marcio has done well this season and will continue to get chances,” said McFall. “You could see against Linfield and Ballinamallard that the opposition struggled to handle his pace and strength.

“He has natural ability and will learn so much from watching other strikers, especially Gary Twigg and Mark McAllister.

“I am also confident the senior players will continue to do everything possible to help all our younger players continue to develop.

“Pace is something defenders hate more than anything and you could see that over the recent games.

“Marcio is keen to learn and that composure in front of goal will come.”

Kick-off tomorrow (Saturday) will be 3 o’clock against Glenavon.

“There is still plenty of football to be played and we still feel a top-six finish is within reach,” said McFall. “It is a shame we did not get anything from the Ballinamallard match, especially after such a positive result against Linfield.

“We will certainly be going to Lurgan with the aim of victory over Glenavon.

“Having Robert Garrett and Ken Oman back from suspension offers a major boost, plus we will look at the fitness of Keith O’Hara and Gary Twigg closer to the match.”