Glenavon manager Stephen McDonnell remains confident “that the players have more to offer than they have shown in recent weeks” as the Lurgan Blues aim to transform their Premiership fortunes, starting with Saturday’s trip to Dungannon Swifts.

McDonnell’s men are winless in their last five league matches – they were beaten 3-0 by Glentoran last weekend – and also suffered BetMcLean Cup defeat on penalties to Championship outfit Armagh City earlier this month.

Glenavon currently sit 10th, three points above Carrick Rangers and four better off than bottom side Loughgall, but have struggled to score goals throughout the current campaign, netting just 11 times in 16 Premiership matches – no team has registered fewer.

However, they’ve also beaten the likes of Coleraine and Crusaders and picked up points against Larne, Glentoran and Cliftonville, keeping clean sheets in all five of those matches, and McDonnell feels there’s more to come from his side.

placeholder image — Glenavon manager Stephen McDonnell. (Photo by Alan Weir/Pacemaker)

“As the league table stands, we are in a relegation battle,” he told the club’s website. “We have produced some encouraging performances, but the bottom line is that we have not won enough games. We need to start winning matches.

“We had two good sessions (this week). The lads worked very hard. They also seemed to listen well to the advice we tried to give them, but that is how it usually is.

"The challenge is to translate what happens on training nights to a match situation. We know that the players have more to offer than they have shown in recent weeks. If they raise their level of performance and do it consistently, it could transform our season.”

McDonnell will be without Harry Lynch and Paul McGovern, who were both selected for Northern Ireland U19s’ trio of UEFA Euro U19 qualifiers, while David Toure is set to miss the fixture through an ankle ligament injury.