Hi °C | Lo °C Paul Kirk will put his displeasure over the organising of tonight's Crest Teamwear County Antrim Shield semi-final with Linfield to one side as he makes an attempt to stop Linfield from lifting the trophy for a fourth season in a row.
Kirk's Lisburn Distillery side were told last Thursday that they would have to go to Windsor Park for the semi-final clash rather than the neutral venue of the Oval.
The Whites' board did consider withdrawing from the competition, but Kirk believes they made the right decision in the end, for both local football and his club.
"I wasn't pleased initially when I was told that we were going to Windsor Park," said Kirk.
"The main thing that I wasn't pleased about was the fact that we weren't offered the chance to toss a coin for home advantage.
"I don't think it should have come down to this though. History shows that Linfield and Glentoran are involved in most semi-finals and plans should have been made for every eventuality long before we reached the semi-final stage of the competition.
"At the end of the day though, we have to play the match somewhere. We need a pitch and a stadium to play Linfield in and it is the Linfield team that we will be playing against, not the pitch and the stadium.
"The board were annoyed, but for football and this competition, which I feel is a great competition, it is best that we go ahead and play the game. "
The Blues will go into tonight's contest minus striker Glenn Ferguson, but with Peter Thompson and Mark Dickson in hot form up-front his loss won't be felt particularly keenly.
Kirk, however, feels that the rest of the Linfield team might just miss their talismanic striker.
"I remember playing for Linfield and feeling that we were missing something when Peter Rafferty wasn't playing," he said.
"We still won matches, but I always felt that we weren't quite the same without the heart of our team and without our leader.
"I think Linfield are the same now when Glenn Ferguson isn't playing.
"He is a phenomenal player and has done us a lot of damage over the years, even when he hasn't scored goals.
"I don't think Linfield will be weak without him, because I just don't think you ever face a weak Linfield team, but it will give us a bit of a lift when we see the team sheet without his name on it."
Tonight's game has a 7.30pm kick-off and will be played to a finish. Fans can gain entry by paying at the turnstiles.
FORMER Northern Ireland captain Nigel Worthington is in the frame to become the new manager of Hull City.
Worthington's ex-international team-mate Iain Dowie turned down the opportunity of taking over in the KC Stadium hot-seat at the weekend and now the Tigers have approached the former Norwich City boss.
It is just two months since Worthington was sacked by Norwich and in that time he has rejected overtures from his former club Sheffield Wednesday as well as two others.
