Time to go one step further and reach a final

And Glenavon coach Nigel Law wants it to happen this season. The Blues reached their first semi-final in over a decade last year and, as they begin their League Cup campaign at Mourneview Park on Monday evening against PSNI (kick-off 7.45pm), Law wants to go one better this time round.

“It would be nice,” he said. “We were pleased to get the club to their first semi-final in some time last season so the next step is obviously to get into a final. All cup competitions are the same in that a lot depends on the draw. If we can make sure we get our name into the hat for the next round and get a decent draw, hopefully we can go on another run this year and even get to that final.

“We had a great run last year and the quarter-final victory over Glentoran gave us the boost we needed to kick-start the season.”

However, before the Blues even think that far ahead, they’ve got the task of defeating Championship Two side PSNI. “It’s important we pick the right team for this one and a team that can win the game,” said Law.

“There is always an upset somewhere so we have to make sure it’s not us. We will have to manage the squad because we will have two games in a short space of time but we also need to get enough experience on the pitch. We have to get the balance right.”

The Blues ran out easy 7-1 winners when the teams met in pre-season but the coach doesn’t expect it to be as easy this time out.

“We were able to bring a 22 man squad to that game, change the team at half-time and play with the same intensity for 90 minutes,” he said.

“We won’t be able to do that this time and they’ve got a few players back who were away that day so they’ll be a lot harder to beat.

“Any win will do but we want to put in a good, professional performance and win convincingly.”