Duncan Ferguson praises Glentoran's defensive effort - but clear 'we just didn’t create enough'

Ferguson has now started his Glens reign with two consecutive draws, following up an opening point against high-flying Coleraine by collecting another at Taylors Avenue.

While Glentoran have the Premiership’s best defensive record on the road having conceded just six times in seven matches, only Dungannon Swifts, Portadown (both six) and Bangor (four) have scored fewer than The Oval outfit (seven).

They’ve won just two of seven away from home, drawing each of their last three, and now sit 14 points adrift of leaders Linfield, who defeated Coleraine at Windsor Park on Saturday evening.

The east Belfast club collected a seventh clean sheet of the campaign at Carrick, but Ferguson was left underwhelmed with their attacking output.

"I thought in the first half we controlled the game,” Ferguson told the club’s media channel. “We had the majority of possession but just couldn’t find a bit of quality in the final third, although we did have a good chance at the back post with Pat (Hoban).

"We restricted them to little or no chances, the goalkeeper doesn’t make one save in the whole match.

"The second half, when they were coming down the hill, they caused us more problems, they had much more entries into our box.

"They play for the long throw and to be fair, our defence stood up to it, our defence were fantastic and we got a clean sheet.

"I thought they were brilliant, they defended our box fantastically well. They put bodies on the line, blocked when they had to, and our goalkeeper doesn’t make one save in the whole match.

"They did have a lot of entries into our box, it’s a tight pitch and they were coming down the slope, so they put us under a lot of pressure, but we stood up to it and that’s the main thing.

"We just didn’t create enough chances, we were a bit unlucky with one or two that we did create, we hit the bar with Cal (Weatherup) and Aaron (McEneff) had a nice shot...we did have some chances, but not enough for my liking."

After two games on the road, Ferguson will get his first taste of The Oval atmosphere on Friday night when his side host Bangor – his scheduled opener against Ballymena United was postponed last month.

The Everton legend is excited for the experience and will be looking to collect his first win since succeeding Declan Devine.

"I’m looking forward to it,” added Ferguson. “It has been a long wait because the game a couple of weeks ago was postponed because of the weather.

"I’m looking forward to getting in front of the home fans. The away fans have been fantastic and it’s a shame we couldn’t get a win today for them – we tried and had a go.

"We defended the box well but just didn’t create enough in the final third...it’s onto the next one and we’ll be looking to win it.”