IRISH LEAGUE: Dungannon boss demands end to cup hangover ahead of Glentoran test

They were thumped 4-1 by Ards last Saturday, a headache the boss is willing to write off as an Irish Cup ‘hangover.’

But any repeat performance at home to Glentoran on Saturday and he won’t be so understanding.

“If we’re not up for this one, there’s something wrong,” he said. “We can use the excuse of a cup hangover for last week but we have no excuses this week.

“It’s going to be very difficult because Glentoran have a strong suqad of players. It’s been a disappointing season by their standards but they are still Glentoran and they’ll want to finish strongly and get that seventh spot.

“This has been a good season for us so far. We have stalled a bit since Christmas but there is still plenty of time to make sure it’s a successful season for us.”

Dungannon will be without the suspended David Armstrong and Seanan Clucas while Paul McElroy is unavailable and goalkeeper Andy Coleman is out for the season with a broken wrist.

The Glens could leapfrog the Swifts into that all-important European play-off spot with a win and boss Gary Haveron is calling on his side to perform like a ‘real’ Glentoran team.

“There’s an opportunity on Saturday and all too often we’ve let opportunities slip through our fingers,” he said. “This is going to be a big game and hopefully the real Glentoran will turn up.”