Glentoran manager Warren Feeney delighted to have 'very important player' back in contention for Newry City clash after injury absence

The versatile 28-year-old last appeared in December’s 2-2 draw with Cliftonville at Solitude and it was initially feared that he could miss the rest of this season with a hamstring issue, but he’s now set to make an imminent return.

It’s a welcome addition for Feeney, who will be hoping his side can bounce back from the disappointment of two consecutive draws having led 2-0 against both Cliftonville and Carrick Rangers in the past 10 days.

The East Belfast outfit have lost just one of their last nine Premiership matches and the ex-Northern Ireland international admits it’s a major boost to have Singleton available.

"On the injury front we’ve a few players still out hurt and its likely we’ll be without them for another two or three weeks, but on a more positive note James Singleton has settled back into training for a couple of weeks and can come into contention this week,” he told the club’s website. “That’s a boost as he was a very important player for us before his injury.

"Harry Murphy got more minutes for the Seconds on Monday night, along with Aaron Wightman and Josh Kelly...for the injuries I feel we still have a strong squad available to us.

“I was as disappointed as the supporters were with the second-half performance and final score against Carrick last week. Those are important points as we go for a European place and build momentum for the rest of the season.

"I talk a lot about mentality and mindset but I can only put those two second-half performances down to that. Players are doing well to get us into a lead – like David (Fisher) and Bobby (Burns) last week – but then we miss chances to finish it off, the opposition score and we’re on the back foot.”

Newry, who currently sit bottom by five points and haven’t won at The Oval since 2009, are coming off the back of two consecutive draws against Ballymena United and Loughgall.

They’ve conceded more goals (66) than any other top-flight outfit in Europe this season, but Feeney says his men need to be at their best against a team fighting to preserve top-flight status.

"For Newry it’s also going to be a tough one, as all games are at this stage of the season,” he added. “Newry are bottom of the table so can’t afford to lose many more points.

"That means they’ll be fighting hard for everything they can get. They did well to draw at Loughgall on Tuesday night and worked hard last weekend to draw their TV match with Ballymena.

"We can’t afford to be anything other than on our game on Saturday. They have an experienced manager in now in Barry who knows this division well so we know our focus needs to be strong to get the three points.”