Seanan Clucas eager to enjoy a successful end to the season as Glentoran ace opens up on injury nightmare that cost him over a year of his career

The 31-year-old was initially ruled out for six to ten weeks but a misdiagnosis meant the former Bristol Rovers man missed over a year of action with two sports hernias.

Tough-tackling Clucas made his return to first-team action in January and he has targeted helping the Glens to achieve a strong end to the campaign as they host Ballyclare Comrades in the quarter-final of Irish Cup this afternoon.

It marks the final opportunity of silverware to be added at the trophy cabinet at The Oval this season as Clucas opened up on his personal battle away from the pitch.

"I'm a poor watcher of games on the sidelines so it was a tough time to be out," he reflected.

"I was out for far longer than was anticipated as I was misdiagnosed here in Northern Ireland before finding out what the issue was in England.

"I kept breaking down after getting injections but a specialist in England conducted an ultrasound and it showed two big black balls, which I knew wasn’t a positive sign.

“The specialist told me I had two sports hernias and he was miffed as to why five or six doctors couldn't get to the root of the issue here in Northern Ireland.

"I missed playing and it took me a few games to get up to speed and I think I've seven fixtures behind me now. I feel fit and strong but I had an absolute shocker against Larne last week (a 3-0 defeat for Glentoran).

"I felt everything I touched went wrong and it was a bad evening at the office for us.

“I feel that I have a point to prove after last week, so there's certainly a personal drive in me to do better between now and the end of the campaign."

The Comrades beat Clucas' former employers Dungannon Swifts in the previous round, so with that in mind, the former Northern Ireland U21 international knows the Glens can ill-afford to take today's opponents lightly.

Ballyclare are currently 7th in the Playr-Fit Championship but they are only eight points behind third-placed Portadown.

He commented: "It's a good opportunity for us to put last week right.

"The Irish Cup and the European play-offs are two big incentives for us now and we want to finish as high in the table as we can.

"Realistically, we are not going to catch Cliftonville in third but we don’t want to drop any lower than fourth in case we are involved in the play-offs as home advantage could be crucial.

"Ballyclare had a great win at Dungannon especially when you factor in the results the Swifts have had this season against some of the big-boys.

"All teams regardless of their division can punish you so we won't be under-estimating Ballyclare.

"If we can do the basics right and out-work Ballyclare, then our quality should sign through. If we don’t do that then an upset could happen so we need to be on our game.”