Aaron Wightman's trophy desire as he makes long-awaited Glentoran return

Aaron Wightman says there is a real desire among the Glentoran squad to end their trophy drought.

It's coming up on five seasons since the Glens last brought some silverware back to the Oval following their Irish Cup triumph back in 2020.

Wightman insists there is a determination about them to end that run and make the most of their opportunity when they take on Ballymena United in the Co Antrim Shield semi-final tonight.

"The club hasn't had much silverware in recent times and that's something we want to put right," he said. As players we've all talked about how much we want to get a bit of silverware this season. It's our aim for the season to be able to go on and win something."

The Sky Blues head to The Oval having lost their last four games, but Wightman knows they have enough quality in the squad to pose the Glens problems.

"It doesn't matter who you play in this league, it's never easy," he said. " Ballymena have shown already what they're capable of this season so we know it will be another tough test for us. We just have to do all we can to make sure we come out on top on the night."

Wightman was delighted to be back in action again on Saturday as he helped Glentoran get back to winning ways with a 3-0 victory at Glenavon. The 20-year-old has had a torrid time with injury having been out since March, with Saturday's appearance his first start under Declan Devine.

"Yeah it was great to get back in again it's just with being out for so long your fitness needs building up again," he said. "Overall though I felt good against Glenavon and the main thing was to get the three points, which we managed to do...that was very pleasing.

"Over the last few weeks we had been struggling to put teams away when we were on top in games. We were the better team in a number of games but we just couldn't find the goal. Against Glenavon though we got the goals we deserved which is very pleasing for everyone.

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"At half-time we spoke about being more direct so to be able to come out straight after the restart and score the second was great. That helped settle us and focus on our own game and we just cruised on from there.

"At Glentoran we need to and want to be up round the top of the table. We know the league is crazy this year, everyone is still in with a shout. To be able to get back to winning ways on Saturday was massive for us."

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