Greenock Juniors manager Gary Fleming says he’s taking nothing for granted as he and his players prepare for the second of three matches against Glenvale in the space of a month.

Having had a free Saturday last weekend, Greenock make the fairly short trip to McKenna Park on Saturday to take on a team who they defeated 3-1 at Ravenscraig just a few weeks ago in the South Challenge Cup.

It was by no means a comfortable victory, though: with the scores level at half time there some harsh words delivered in the home dressing room, and an improvement in the second half delivered a workmanlike win.

The saving grace, in a not particularly pleasing performance, was that all three goals were of the highest quality.

Glenvale have been very strongly tipped to win back to back promotions, however so far they have not hit their best form. Most recently they lost 4-2 away to Kilsyth Athletic, though the previous week they produced an excellent 3-0 win away to Threave Rovers, another team hotly tipped for promotion.

Glenvale are clearly a side with ability, even if the consistency is not there as yet, and the Greenock management team will brook no sense of complacency and will emphasise the need for full concentration and application on Saturday.

A plus point for Greenock is that they can expect to play on a fine surface; McKenna Park is invariably in good condition and that will suit the Nock’s possession based game.

A break in competitive fixtures can be a double edged sword: the Nock are on a fine run of four consecutive victories, the most recent a well merited 3-1 win against Girvan. The hope will be that the form the squad displayed in South Ayrshire will carry forward to the weekend, and there is no reason to think it won’t be.

On the other hand, not having a fixture last week has been useful in that it has provided a little extra time for some players to recovery from injury. Cammy McPhee is back in training after a troublesome calf injury and may be in contention for Saturday. Ryan Sinnamon and Pat Tonner both had achilles and ankle injuries; however they are likely to be fine for Saturday. Goalkeeper Craig Beaton has been recovering from groin injury, however he will be available on Saturday. Darren Patton is continuing to train and is not too far away from making his comeback.

Fleming said: “We’ve made good use of the break from competitive football. Some players have benefitted by having additional time to recuperate from injury, while others have managed to get valuable minutes under their belts in a friendly match.

“Training sessions during the period have been quite physically demanding to compensate for the lack of game time. Some lads have caught the eye and have possibly played their way into contention for the match day squad and indeed the starting line-up.

“ We are in good shape and the squad should be feeling fit and ready heading into Saturday.

“Glenvale are not a team to be taken lightly. Any team who travel to Threave and come away with a 3-0 win must be treated with the utmost respect.” 

Glenvale FC vs Greenock Juniors FC at McKenna Park in Shieldhall kicks off at 2pm on Saturday.

Greenock are sponsored by Saveheat, Keystore Cowal View, Safer Group, The Lighthouse Bar, McGills, ARC and Blairs.