‘We’ll give it our best shot”

Glenavon may face a daunting task on Thursday night, but they are going to give it their best shot against Shakhtyor Soligorsk.
Glenavon players at breakfast in their Minsk hotel.Glenavon players at breakfast in their Minsk hotel.
Glenavon players at breakfast in their Minsk hotel.

Trailing 2-1 from the first leg, manager Gary Hamilton knows getting a result is highly unlikely but while cautious to talk up a result, he is not ruling anything out.

“You just don’t know what to expect going there,” he said. “I have been with teams taking a lead into the away leg and confident of going through and you end up well beaten.

“They are a good side and when you come up against quality like that they could win 3 or 4-0. But at 2-1 we have something to play for. You never know in football. Maybe we can score first.

“They know all about us now and I’m sure they are confident of going through.

“If we can apply the same effort as last week without the mistakes then that is all I can ask for.

“We have a mountain to climb and it is perhaps beyond us, but we will give it our best shot and see where that takes us.”

Missing from the travelling party will be goalkeeper James McGrath who is getting married on Saturday. Johnny Tuffey comes in and he would love to cap his Glenavon competitive debut with a clean sheet.

David Elebert is a doubt as he is nursing a hamstring injury while the only other change to the squad is Declan O’Brien in for Gareth McKeown who is unable to travel due to work commitments.

The match kicks off at 7.30pm local time which is 5.30pm here.

Related topics: