'There are absolutely headaches' - Glenavon boss Stephen McDonnell with big selection decisions to make in attempt to find 'right recipe'
Glenavon manager Stephen McDonnell admits “there are absolutely headaches” when it comes to team selection for Saturday’s Premiership showdown with Coleraine after his side fell to a third consecutive league defeat against Linfield.
The Lurgan Blues fell behind after less than two minutes at Mourneview Park on Tuesday before ultimately losing out 3-0 thanks to Joel Cooper’s brace and a Kirk Millar strike, which followed up defeats to Carrick Rangers and Cliftonville at the start of the new season.
McDonnell made a number of second-half changes with summer recruit Barney McKeown coming off the bench for his competitive debut alongside teenagers Harry Lynch and Chris Atherton, who famously became the youngest player ever in the United Kingdom after appearing in Glenavon’s BetMcLean Cup triumph over Dollingstown in September 2022 aged 13 years and 329 days.
Atherton was undoubtedly a bright spark, taking the attack to Linfield in what was just his fourth Premiership outing, and McDonnell admits he’ll have to think long and hard about the team which takes to the pitch at the Showgrounds this weekend.
"There are absolutely headaches...lads have done themselves an injustice and lads have done themselves no harm whatsoever,” he told the club’s media channel. “Everything I'm saying we've discussed (in the changing room) and it won't be news to the group.
"We can stomach and accept the second-half performance, but the first half? No chance.
"We're trying to find the right recipe. Lads will get chances and those chances will come and go. We have to find the best team that can go and compete for 90 minutes and unfortunately right now there are games of two halves, which is not what we want - we want complete performances, loads of effort...we made loads of tackles in the second-half against Linfield and I think I counted one tackle in the first.
"That's everything that needs to be said. There will be a fair selection headache heading into Saturday."
Despite the defeat, there was positive news on the injury front for McDonnell with talisman Jack Malone set to return sooner than expected after his diagnosis was more promising than first feared.
Malone was stretchered off in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Cliftonville and will likely miss weeks rather than months.
"It's settled down...we feared the worst with the stretcher, but we didn't know what happened so you do fear the worst,” he added. “There's no break, a slight bit of ligament damage and I think we've got away scot-free with that one.
"It won't be too long-term - he will be out for a number of weeks but it'll be Thursday before we know more. We're in a good place with the squad but we have to start cutting out errors."
Glenavon have also confirmed the departure of defender Danny Wallace, who has joined Dungannon Swifts on a permanent deal after spending three years in Lurgan.