Glentoran star keen to use 'Big Two' disappointment as 'fuel for the fire' ahead of Ballymena United trip

The Glens were beaten 2-1 at Windsor Park after Darragh Leahy and Kirk Millar struck for the Blues, while Declan Devine’s men will be without Jordan Stewart, who has scored in both of their opening two league matches, for Friday’s trip to Ballymena United through suspension.

Glentoran are aiming to end the club’s 18-year wait for Gibson Cup glory in 2027 after finishing third last term, six points behind Larne.

Following honest conversations about their Linfield showing, Cooney wants to put things right at The Showgrounds.

"Nobody likes to lose games, but losing to your rivals is a tough one to take, that's for sure," said Cooney. "There was a lot of disappointment in the changing room following the game and a lot of that came from our own performance.

"There wasn't a lot in the game, but unfortunately we didn't do enough over the 90 minutes to really take control of things.

"We didn't play like we know we can and we didn't take the game to Linfield in the same way we have done in the past.

"So that's where our frustration and disappointment stems from because we know we could have and should have done a lot better on the day.

"Those are things we can work on though, we know how to put that right and it's important that we take the learning from this game.

"The most important thing after any defeat is how you respond and thankfully in the past when we have suffered setbacks we have bounced back straight away.

"We need to do that again come Friday night as we don't want anything to linger on. We had a good few chats this week reflecting on the defeat and everyone had the same feelings on it.

"We have to use the disappointment as fuel for the fire and make sure that come Friday night we are raring to go once again, and we produce a performance we know we are capable of."

Ballymena have finished eighth or below in each of the last seven Premiership seasons, but are fancied by many to scale the table this term after an impressive summer of recruitment.

With title winners Chris McKee, Josh Archer, Stephen Fallon, Scot Whiteside, Charlie Allen, David Walsh and Micheal Glynn amongst their new signings, Oran Kearney is building a squad seemingly capable of challenging for a top-half position.

The Sky Blues began the 2026/27 campaign with a statement 3-0 victory at Linfield and Cooney is expecting another tough test.

"It's certainly been a very busy summer for Ballymena and I have to say I've been impressed with the calibre of players they have brought in," he added. "They have recruited a lot of quality and experienced Irish League players who have played at this level for a number of years.

"The likes of Jonny Addis, Scot Whiteside and Chris McKee have won so much in the game and they along with the rest of the squad will be big players for them this campaign.

"They showed on the opening day just what they are capable of when they went to Linfield and won easily.

"That doesn't happen much so we know that Ballymena are a side packed with quality players who can hurt you if you let them.

"Like us they suffered a setback last week and they will be fired up to put the record straight again on Friday.”