Sports Direct Women’s Premiership… coach Kim Turner demands positive response from Glens ahead of crucial Crues test

KIM Turner insists her Glentoran side will be raring to go once again as they prepare to face Crusaders Strikers in the Sports Direct Women’s Premiership on Friday evening (kick-off 7.45pm).It’s been almost three weeks since the Glens last completed a domestic fixture due to the June international window.

A 6-1 defeat to Shelbourne in the All-Island Cup brought their campaign in that competition to an end but Turner (above) says they have got it out of their systems and the focus is back on.

“We had obviously hoped for a good run in the All-Island Cup this season but two defeats in the group stage have proved costly for us,“ said the Glentoran boss.

“It’s not how we wanted our campaign to come to an end but it is what it is and now we have to look forward.

“The international break maybe came at a good time for us. We had a few days break to get things out of our system and now we’ve been back in again to look at what we could have done better and to take the learning from it.

“We all know there are going to be ups and downs along the course of the season and it’s how you react to it. Now we have to get our heads down again and refocus on what we want to achieve.

“There are some big games coming up for us over the next few weeks and we want to make sure that we are in the right position to come out of those matches with the result and performance we want.”

The Crues currently lead the way at the top of the Women’s Premiership by a single point over Glentoran ahead of their meeting at Seaview having played two games more than their opponents.

Turner is expecting a tough test against Jonny Tuffey’s side as they bid to overhaul them at the top of the league.

“The Crues have made a good start to their league campaign and have certainly got stronger as the season has gone on,” said Turner.“We played them in the Boyle Sports Cup back in April winning 4-1 at Seaview but I think they will be a different prospect come Friday night.

“They will obviously have a lot of confidence given their recent results and I’m sure they will be looking to put pressure on us from the start.

“We have had our debrief following our return from international duty and we know where we need to improve and what we are looking for, moving forward.

“It’s now up to us to take that out onto the pitch and produce a performance which will help us come away with the result we want.

“We have a lot of big games coming up over the next month and we want to put ourselves in a strong position in the league so we know the importance of getting a result at Seaview.

“I know it’s only our fourth league game of the season and there’s a lot of football still to be played but it would be significant for us to be there and be in a position to build on it in the forthcoming games.”