Declan Devine offers injury update on 'important' Glentoran star ahead of Big Two showdown with Linfield
Ahead of the first Big Two meeting of the season, Glentoran manager Declan Devine has offered an injury update on “important player” Patrick McClean after the defender missed their last two matches across competitions.
According to Sofascore’s statistical database, centre-back McClean has been the Glens’ standout performer so far this season and played virtually every minute of their opening nine league games before sustaining an ankle injury which forced him out of a stalemate with Glenavon and Tuesday’s BetMcLean Cup triumph over Dergview.
Devine’s men face one of their biggest tests of the campaign on Friday evening when they travel to rivals Linfield, who sit top of the Premiership table having lost just once.
While not committing to starting McClean in the crunch clash, Devine has confirmed his injury isn’t as bad as first feared while hinting that Dylan Connolly could have a big role to play at Windsor Park after being rested midweek.
“Paddy McClean missed the last couple of games with an ankle injury,” he told the club’s website. “He visited a specialist in midweek and thankfully it is not as severe as first thought.
"We won’t play him unless he’s 100% as he’s an important player for us. We rested Cammy Palmer and Dylan Connolly against Dergview, so they’ll be fresh and ready to go."
On the threat posed by Linfield, Devine added: "Linfield are very much the team to beat at the moment, but there’s always an extra element in this game so we must make sure we give ourselves the best chance of winning by approaching it positively from the start with the right mentality for a big game.
"Between Elliott (Morris), Tim (McCann) and myself on the coaching team we have plenty of experience of Big Two games with Glentoran and we’ve been sharing that.
"The things we’ve been addressing have involved how we stop making soft, unforced errors in defence and the need to be more clinical when we get the ball forward.”