LOUGHGALL manager, Niall Currie, has every faith in his players despite the gap between the Villagers and tomorrow's (Saturday's) top-flight Irish Cup rivals, Newry City.
City were this week awarded a win over Larne by the Executive Board of the Irish Football Association following the abandonment of the original tie. Despite the saga to settle on an outcome, Currie has refused to let the sideshow leading up to this w
eekend's Lakeview Park meeting disrupt preparations.
"We always disregard anything beyond our control, such as the Newry City and Larne decision, so it was a case of just preparing for whatever fixture the schedule provided," said the Loughgall boss. "An Irish Cup tie at Lakeview Park is always special for everyone connected to the club and the chance to test our progress against a team from the Carling Premiership is another plus.
"A number of key men have been asked to step up and perform despite playing short of full fitness but the squad is stretched at present.
"We will obviously have a look at our options before the weekend but it has been a tough run of fixtures.
"On Saturday, at home to Glebe we struggled to match the traditional level of intensity but the players responded superbly for the midweek win over Larne so that can only help confidence levels ahead of the Newry date.
"I have an honest group of players and they accept that the Glebe game was a below-par performance.
"The disappointment was obvious to everyone in the dressing room after the match but it is also important to remember that we entered that fixture off the back of a superb winning run.
"We worked hard to get back into contention and rescue a point and everyone finished the match frustrated at not turning that position into a win.
"My players have put everything into this season and we will continue to challenge on as many fronts as possible, although ideally I would like to freshen up the panel for the run-in.
"The fact that we managed to bounce back for a difficult trip to Larne was extremely encouraging and four points is not a bad haul from the last two fixtures.
"Against Larne we controlled the match and returned to the level of endeavour which has served us so well in the past."
Kick-off tomorrow (Saturday) against Newry City will be 3 o'clock in the Irish Cup sixth round - with a visit to Coleraine on March 13 the reward.
