Glackin to miss Europa League tie

JAMIE Glackin is set to miss out on Coleraine’s Europa League clash with La Fiorita.

The Bannsiders will host the San Marino outfit in a prelimnary round clash at the Ballycastle Road showgrounds on August 20 with the winners going forward to meet Slovenian opponents Maribor.

Former Dungannon Swifts player Glackin, who broke his arm in the Irish Cup semi-final against Ballymena United, had an appointment with a consultant on Tuesday morning and the midfielder was told that he would have to remain in cast – albeit a lesser one – for another two weeks.

That disappointing news means that the Omagh man has now set his sights on being ready fo the new Premiership season which has been provisionally pencilled in for October 17.

“I got the bigger cast off and I’m now in a shorter one but that’s still another two weeks,” he said.

“I was probably being a bit too optimistic in thinking that I could have been ready to return much sooner. The shorter cast will allow me a bit more movement which is positive I suppose. If we can get through the preliminary round then we can look forward to Maribor. That’ll still probably be too soon for me but I’ll go over and support the 
boys anyway and do the warm up and stuff, if we get through.”

While Glackin, who helped Coleraine capture the BetMcLean Cup in February and was instrumental in his team keeping pace with league leaders Linfield before the coronavirus pandemic brought the season to a premature end, is itching to get back he is very aware the dangers of returning before he is fully recovered.

“The last thing you’d want is coming back too early, having another wee collision and then you are back to square one again,” he continued.

“That could mean another six to eight weeks. The consultant was making that very point to me on Tuesday. We have done well to get into Europe but I have had the privilege to play in Europe before anyway.  Of course it’s gutting but the realistic goal is to be ready for the new season and hopefully we can push on and win the league.”

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