WHAT THE MANAGER SAID: 'We're not into moral victories' - Glenavon's Paddy McLaughlin positive but clear after first league game

Here’s the verdict of the Glenavon boss:

OVERALL PERFORMANCE...

"It was a good performance with nothing to show for it.

"We're not into moral victories but we're happy with how we played, happy with how we controlled large parts of it.

"But we probably could've done more in the final third.

"I feel as if up to a point we were well on top but just didn't create enough clearcut opportunities.

"Big Aaron McCarey has pulled off a couple of big saves in fairness but you'd expect that from a man of his quality.

"The goal disallowed at the end...very, very fine margins.

"You could've come away with a well-deserved point but it wasn't to be.

"The signs are there...we dominated a tough opponent at a tough ground and if we can do that more often and do that for longer periods right into the 90th minute then, hopefully, a bit of luck will go our way.

PREPARATIONS AFTER JOINING THE CLUB ON SUNDAY...

"It was a big of a shock introduction but I'm very grateful to the fans, Glenn (Emerson) the chairman has been brilliant and the people around the club.

"They've provided me with everything I've asked for in the build-up to both games (Mid-Ulster Senior Cup on Tuesday and Saturday's Sports Direct Premiership game).

"You'd like a few sessions on the pitch, we didn't really have much of a session on Thursday with playing Tuesday night.

"But we've got the two games out of the road, we move into a first full week to try and put your mark on things and get better organised than this week.

"But the boys were excellent in the game for large periods but Portadown got their goal and defended their lead really well.

"We probably deserved a point at the end of it but it just wasn't to be.

"Players love playing games and you can assess more in games.

"Training sessions don't really, at times, show you what the players can do on the pitch.

"Games are the best way of assessing things and that's all we'll be doing over the next couple of weeks - where did we go right, what do we need to improve on...

"Things are very good in a lot of areas but there are things we need to sharpen up on and if we do that we've got a good squad of players.

"January is only around the corner, we'll probably bring in one or two, we'll see what happens...but it's only fair everyone gets a crack at impressing and showing that they want to be part of the club in the future.

"Glenavon...it's everything that you'd want to be part of and, hopefully, the players are feeling that as well, that they want to be part of something long-term.

POSITIVES...

"I think our build-up from the back was very good and a lot of our play around the middle of the park was excellent.

"I can't be expecting too much from the players over the first couple of days.

"It's not fair to be critical of them...they did everything I asked of them and the one thing that was probably lacking was in the final third, creating better goal-scoring chances.

"But that's stuff we've got to work on...we've good players at the top end but we've got to work on things and to give them a chance to showcase what they're about.

"It'll happen in time, disappointing result and no-one wants to get beat but the signs are there.

"If we keep producing performances like this for large parts of the game and keep adding a bit of quality then we'll keep picking up points.

"Any manager or coach will tell you there's hundreds of things you can go through.

"How you want them to defend from throw-ins, goal kicks, corner-kicks; how you want them to play, how you want them to move inside the box attacking and defending.

"You can't just fire everything at them in one or two sessions.

"We'll work our way through what's important, we'll work our way through areas that we feel need strengthened first, there's a long way to go, there's plenty of points to be picked up."