Glentoran first team coach Rodney McAree says the Big Two giants can’t continue relying on top scorers Jay Donnelly and Conor McMenamin to keep them in the title race.
Top scorer Donnelly, who was on target in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Ballymena United at the Showgrounds, has bagged 26 goals in all competitions this season.
Left winger McMenamin has also chipped in with an impressive 18 meaning the pair have contributed 44 of the Oval club’s 74 goals in all domestic competitions.
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Even more stark is the fact that Donnelly and McMenamin have scored 41 of Glentoran’s 58 league goals, 71 percent of the club’s tally in the Danske Bank Premiership.
“We have to show a greater collective effort to get us over the line,” said McAree, who branded Saturday’s performance on the Braid “poor”.
“For us having such a good squad, too many times this season we have relied on Jay Donnelly and Conor McMenamin to pull us out of a hole.
“Other people have to be weighing in and contributing and giving a little bit more. If you’re an attacking midfielder, how many goals have you scored this season?
“If you’re a wide player, how many goals? Conor McMenamin has scored 17 or 18 goals from wide left, but what’s everybody else’s contribution?
“I don’t think we’ve had enough across the board. If we get a little more contribution from more areas of the pitch to help those two out, we might have a little more success.”
Saturday’s share of the spoils at the Showgrounds, Ryan Waide’s opener for United cancelled out by Donnelly's 54th minute penalty, saw Glentoran slip to third in the table.
With time running out, Mick McDermott’s men are a point behind Cliftonville, who have a game in hand, and five below reigning champions Linfield at the summit.
Since beating the Blues at the BetMcLean Oval on February 11, the Glens have taken just seven points from a possible 15 in their last five league outings.
It’s a worrying return at such a crucial stage of the campaign but McAree is confident the Mersey Street men have the character and quality to turn things around.
Asked if the quest to end Glentoran’s 13 year wait to lift the Gibson Cup is taking a mental toll, the former Dungannon Swifts and Coleraine boss said: “It shouldn’t be nerves or anything like that.
“Everybody’s playing a game they love, they’re doing something they enjoy and at the start of the season we all felt this squad of players could challenge for a league.
“If someone had told us we’d be heading into the Ballymena game three points off the top, you would have taken it. It can’t be nerves.
“Today was poor, but by no means are we out of it. There are still six games to play and 18 points to play for. Everybody still has to play each other in the top half of the table, so we’re not out of it.
“Our next game is at home to Carrick Rangers and that’s now our biggest game of the season. They’re all ‘must wins’ now and we have a squad of players capable of doing that.”
Ballymena took the lead when Waide rifled home in the 49th minute only for Donnelly to level from the penalty spot five minutes later after Shay McCartan was fouled by Kym Nelson.
McAree said: “I thought we started the game quite well, but for the remainder of the first half we were sluggish and there was no urgency about us.
“It took us to go a goal behind for us to actually show the urgency that was required and determination needed to win a game of football.
“It wasn’t a case of a rant and a rave afterwards. It was constructive and the players are clever enough to know they didn’t give enough.
“They have to reflect on that and where and how they can do things better and put it into practice against Carrick.”
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