MARTY QUINN has told his Glenavon side that Saturday's Irish Cup quarter-final against Ballymena United has become a season defining match.
The Blues’ hopes of breaking into the top six of the Irish League for the first time in ten seasons will not be realised this year after the recent slump in form and so all that is left to play for is the dreams of getting their hands on the Irish Cu
p for the first time this century.
“It’s all about Saturday now,” told the boss.
“Our whole season revolves around Saturday. I’ll call for a massive improvement on Monday’s performance. It’s very, very important and we have to get it right. Our whole season depends on it and let me put it like this; futures depend on it.”
The Blues are fresh off the back of four successive defeats, the latest of which was a horrendous 3-0 loss to Crusaders on Monday night but the boss is confident that his side can turn that around come Saturday afternoon.
“We’ll just have a general chat and try and get the morale up,” said Quinn.
“I’m raring to go again and I’ll be going down to have a look at the Reserves to have a look at people and see how they’re doing. Gary Liggett’s scoring a few goals and Tony Grant is probably going to miss Saturday’s game with an injury so I’ll be having a look at the strikeforce and seeing what they’re about.
“There’ll be no drastic changes but Conor Walsh has a recurring knee injury and he’s probably looking 50:50 for Saturday at the minute.”
Glenavon last came up against Ballymena two weeks ago when a questionable penalty decision in injury time left Quinn and his side reeling as they exited the Showgrounds empty handed having gone down 1-0 to Roy Walker’s men.
Although Quinn is not looking for revenge on the Sky Blues, he is desperate to dump them out of the Cup come Saturday afternoon to ensure a bright future for his team.
“It’s not about scores to settle or anything like that. The past is the past and the future’s about getting into the semi-final of the Irish Cup.”
The Blues have so far overcame Harland and Wolff Welders by a 5-1 scoreline and Institute thanks to a late Tony Grant winner whilst Ballymena have beaten Ards and Ballinamallard to reach the quarter-finals of the competition.
