By Neil Watson
PREMIERSHIP champions Linfield travel to Clandeboye Park this Saturday afternoon (3pm).
David Healy’s side have already picked up a win in Bangor this season when the Blues defeated the Seasiders back in September thanks to goals from Kieran Offord, Matthew Fitzpatrick and Chris McKee.
On that occasion Lee Feeney’s men were flat in the first half but pushed Linfield hard in the second half, and the Bangor manager is looking forward to seeing what his troops can do this time.
“I’m confident going into Saturday,” said the former Linfield and Rangers forward. “The last time we played against Linfield I think the three-goal scoreline was very harsh on us. The game was closer than the score suggested.
“I believe we’ve got a squad of players that can go and get a result on Saturday,” he added.
“We might need to ride our luck at times and defend for our lives if we want to get something out of the game but we’re capable of doing that.
“If we can compete and stay in the game then you never know what can happen. We know we aren’t going to win every game or get points in every game, but we’re a proper Premiership team now and every team that plays against us needs to work really hard to beat us.”
Since defeating Bangor in September, Linfield’s season has been disrupted by postponed fixtures as the Blues try to find the rhythm that took them to glory last season. Defeat against Portadown and a series of draws against Coleraine and Cliftonville have left Linfield 11 points off top place – albeit with three games in hand.
The south Belfast side will be without the suspended defensive duo of Ethan McGee and Ben Hall, while midfielder Oisin Devlin misses out for Bangor as he serves the final game of his suspension.
