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Steven Crawford

Irish League needs to see its top stars in action says Rodney McAree

Rodney McAree welcomed the goal-scoring return of star man Conor McMenamin saying the league needs its talented players to be playing.

After a 30-minutes cameo in the Irish Cup win over Portadown last Saturday McMenamin reminded everyone of his undoubted quality as he came off the bench to score a Goal of the Season contender against Coleraine.

McAree feels it is not only a huge boost for the Glens to have a player of McMenamin's quality back but also for the league as a whole.

Read next: Patrick McClean retirement stunner a huge blow to Glentoran

“It is great to see Conor back," said the Glentoran boss.

“I think the league misses people like Conor and you look at Jordan Stewart playing for Glenavon; they are talented players and you want to see them out on the pitch.

“Conor has that in the locker, it is a fabulous strike and it was totally pin-point.

“It is a huge boost having him at our disposal.

“It’s not only Conor, there is Shay McCartan who was missing for seven games which ultimately ended up being ten weeks.

“It’s good getting Shay minutes as he’s been sharper since coming back, you have Niall McGinn who is getting more football and sharpness, as well as competition for places."

McAree felt his Glentoran side should have managed the game better after McMenamin's wonder strike put them in front late on at The Showgrounds.

The Northern Ireland international's sublime effort in the 82nd minute was good enough to win any game.

But the Glens switched off in the final minute and Matthew Shevlin, who had missed a first half penalty, hooked home a deserved equaliser for the hosts.

McAree questioned whether the Coleraine striker was in an offside position when he scored but added his side should have seen the game out.

“Whenever you take the lead and score the goal Conor has scored to put you 2-1 up, you’re disappointed to not see the game out with six or seven minutes to go," he said.

“We have to manage the game a little bit better.

“We were going up the left-hand side with the ball at that stage and decided that instead of going to the white line or giving away a throw-in, we tried to go inside and ultimately lost possession.

“We could have defended the ball that came into our box and then the corner kick.

“If he’s offside then we’ve done our job right and if he isn’t offside, then we haven’t."

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