Rodney McAree labels BetMcLean Cup postponement as 'not ideal' as Dungannon Swifts supremo plans to trim squad in the January transfer window

The two teams would have to wait in their quest to reach the last four of the competition after the game was called-off by referee Shane Andrews.

Despite the game being delayed to 8:15pm due to traffic congestion following an accident on the M1, Andrews decided to call the game off due to the pitch being unplayable and the official feeling he didn’t have sufficient time to warm up.

The Swifts’ official X account, formerly known as Twitter, showed a video of the squad training on the pitch after the game was postponed.

"We ended up having to do a training session which was difficult as there was not much thought put into it as we thought we would be playing a game,” McAree said.

"We had made changes for the game to get people minutes but we are back to square one.

"It’s not ideal and the pitch was fine to play on but we had a good training session on Thursday night ahead of today and we have dealt with it and moved on.

"We know today’s clash at Windsor Park is going to be difficult but it’s a good game to challenge ourselves.

"We want to stay in the game for as long as possible and see where it takes us.”

One bright spark in Dungannon’s recent fixtures has been Larne loanee Matthew Lusty and McAree already has plans to trim his squad in the January transfer window.

He added: “Matthew has been brilliant and is very good to work with.

“He’s enthusiastic, loves learning and could have got even more goals recently.

"If a player becomes available that’s within our budget, then we would obviously be interested.

"I felt we already had a big squad before we signed Thomas Maguire and Gael Bigirimana on the final day of the transfer window.

“A few players might feel they haven’t had enough minutes so far this season, so January could be about letting more go than we bring in.”