Michael O’Connor has warned his players the search for an answer to “the million dollar question” of Glenavon’s senior safety cannot come solely from the tactics board and training pitch.

Having initially stopped the rot off an 11-game losing league run that cost previous manager Paddy McLaughlin his job, former Northern Ireland international O’Connor has suffered back-to-back Premiership defeats to Dungannon Swifts and Coleraine.

Sitting bottom of the top-flight table seven points adrift of Crusaders having played two extra games, the Lurgan Blues now host high-flying Glentoran in search of a rescue mission boost.

Glenavon’s preparations in pursuit of vital league points suffered a midweek setback with a shock BetMcLean Cup exit to third-tier Newry City AFC that left O’Connor “the most disappointed I’ve felt since I’ve come in”.

placeholder image — Glenavon manager Michael O'Connor. (Photo by Alan Weir/Pacemaker Press)

“You find out more about players when you're losing than winning...I've found loads - good and bad,” said O’Connor. “We've had loads of games, if you look at the five since I’ve been in I’ve rotated and every player has played enough minutes to show me what they have.

"I'm at a stage now where I sort of know what team I want to go with and who I can depend on.

"We’ve gone 4-1-4-1, more attacking with two high 10s and one sitting midfielder, we’ve gone 4-2-3-1 so two deep midfielders, we’ve gone 4-4-2, a three at one stage...so we've tried a few systems.

"But all these systems you need to work on in training.

"We need training time, definitely...I've done a lot of work on the video screen to show where we're going wrong and what we're doing right but on the training pitch we've had two, maybe three, sessions to get our points across and how we want to play.

"But it's not as if it's a first year in football for the players, they know the game.

"At the minute we need players that know how to do things in-game.

"People keep saying it's a team that's low on confidence...I do get that, I've been in that situation before where you're losing a lot of games.

"It's just about trying to find a way to start winning games...it's the million dollar question to try and get that right.

"I think we just need to keep our heads down and just keep working hard.

"As a footballer, I base myself on all the formations and systems and tactics and rotations and all that as secondary.

"You have to work hard, you have to find ways to win your own individual battles."

Those high stakes presented by every Premiership game as an opportunity to close the gap also come with the high price of failure reducing that timeframe with each passing 90-minute match.

"Where we are in the league it's more about finding a way that's going to suit the players we have to get us wins,” said O’Connor. “You don't want to be too attacking, you don't want to be too defensive...it's trying to find that fine balance.

"It’s been tough but I'm enjoying it in a certain way, I think we’ll get it right...we just need to keep going.”