I'm here to help the club get regrouped and refocused for seven or eight massive cup finals between now and the end of the season, says new Glentoran interim manager Declan Devine

Devine, a former Derry City and Bohemians manager who won silverware as a Glentoran player in the 1990s, was announced on Saturday morning to fill the vacancy following Friday’s news of a Warren Feeney exit “by mutual consent” after nine months as Oval boss.

The 50-year-old watched on from the stands on Saturday as Glentoran ended a turbulent week by securing all three points at Dungannon Swifts via a 3-0 scoreline.

Devine believes his previous managerial experience and working with players who are now at the Glens will stand him in good stead as he moves into the hot seat.

“Pressure in football is a privilege - whenever there is pressure, I see it as a privilege and something that you should enjoy," he said.

“Because it’s when there is no pressure and people don’t care, that’s when it becomes a problem.

“I know the potential of the club, I know the potential of the players - there’s a lot of talented lads there that I know through either club football, under-21 football, youth development or international teams.

"So I know a lot of them, I know what they are capable of and I’m just here to try and pull the whole thing together over the remainder of this season.

“And if we can do that, there is no reason why we can’t be as expressive as we want to be.

“I’ve done it at other clubs - when I first went into Bohemians there wasn’t a great connection between players and fans.

“The second time I went into Derry, it was very similar, there wasn’t that connection.

“I see the fans today and they’ve really got behind the team and the team have responded, and it’s a two-way street.

“If everybody can pull in the one direction - the minimum’s effort, the minimum’s commitment - and when you see the ability that the boys have, I have no doubt that if everybody pulls hard and pushes hard between now and the end of the year, we can have a decent year."

Glentoran have six games remaining in the Premiership – as well as an Irish Cup semi-final date with Linfield – but Devine isn’t looking too far ahead in terms of his own future.

He added: “There are massive things to fight for. This club deserves to be at the top of Irish football, I believe.

“There’s no guarantees but the reality is there are seven or eight cup finals coming up and we’ve got to make sure we’re at our very best for every one of them, because we are not in a position where we can look down our noses at anyone.

“We must give everything that we have between now and the end of the season and see where it takes us.

“From my point of view, I’ve had the most insane week you can ever imagine, so from my point of view all I’m looking at is the next six, seven, eight weeks.

“I’m here to help the club - that’s what I’m here for, it’s not about Declan Devine, it’s not about anything else - it’s about trying to get the team regrouped, refocused and trying to finish the season strongly.

“Anything else that goes with that, I’m really not bothered.

“Please God we can have a good end to the year and see what direction the club wants to go in.”