Glentoran duo are set to sign

The gaffer has been in talks with the pair that were released by the Belfast club last week and he is now confident of getting both signed on at Mourneview Park.

Halliday has just completed his testimonial year at the Oval after serving the club for 11 seasons, making 459 appearances and scoring 140 goals. Neill made 150 appearances during his time at the club after moving from Portadown.

Now it appears that the next chapter of their careers will be written with Glenavon, as Quinn wants to get the deals tied up in the coming days.

“I’m waiting on answers now but I’m hopeful,” he told the ‘MAIL.’

“I’ve had good talks with them and I think that they’ve got what I want. Certainly from a playing point of view they’ve got what I want but mentally they have as well and I’ve had to make sure about that.

“You live in hope in this game. Players will bounce you off others but I get the impression that the two lads would be coming for the right reasons. As I say, there’s nothing definite at the minute.”

Quinn is excited about the prospect of having one of the league’s top marksmen on the books next season with Halliday set to add his goalscoring knack to the Glenavon attack. The boss isn’t worried about the aging legs of the 30 year-old either.

“Halliday is still as lean as they come,” he said.

“There’s not a pick on him and he’s still the same shape as he was whenever he came into the league. He adds experience and he adds a goalscoring habit that he has had for a large number of years. He’s a good, fit lad and looks after himself very well. I’m going to get a bit of quality in there if I can get him.”

Neill has featured largely on the left wing for Glentoran during his time at the club but, if he makes the move to Mourneview Park, it appears that he will be stepping back into the left-back spot with Quinn setting his sights elsewhere with regards to wingers.

“At this moment in time, if Kyle’s coming on board I’ll be looking at him as a left-back and I’m in talks with another wide player at the minute,” told the gaffer.

However, Quinn seemed rather less confident of his prospects of signing Ballymena striker, Kevin Kelbie who appears to be on his way out of the Showgrounds. The extra cost of the Scottish-based player’s travelling is weighing on Quinn’s mind and he is also keen to assess the more local options open to him.

“I haven’t spoken to Kevin. I’m not ruling him out but I’m looking around as well,” he said.

“The travelling expenses and an odd overnight stay etc is the problem with Kevin but it’s not ruled out. Let me put it like this, if I can get a local player; I’ll go for him.

“I’m talking to a few other players at the moment but they aren’t committing themselves yet. I’ll be looking for an answer in the next couple of days.”