Samuel savours first experience of European football

Kells-based player Samuel McIlveen started Glenavon's Europa League first leg tie in Iceland last week.

The Kells-based midfielder made his Europa League debut for the Lurgan side last week in their 3-0 defeat against Icelandic side Hafnafjordur, losing to three goals in the final 10 minutes.

“The result put a bit of a dampener on it but overall it was a great experience for me,” said Carniny Youth product Samuel.

“The trip out there was a bit of a nightmare with cancelled flights and not arriving in Iceland until a day later than planned but in terms of the match, it was great for me to be playing at that standard.

“They were unbeaten in their previous 10 games so they are in the middle of their season whereas some of our players were literally playing their first 90 minutes of pre-season.”

With Ballymena-based players an increasingly rare commodity in the Danske Bank Premiership, Samuel is hoping he can stake his claim for a regular place.

“I played 10 or 12 first team games last season so I would like to build on that and maybe reach 20 appearances this season.

“Last year we didn’t have that many injuries or suspensions which meant that Gary (Hamilton) didn’t change his team that much when we were going well.

“I’m hoping that I can maybe get in early this time, try to impress in the European games and try to stay in the team. but it won’t be easy because there are some terrific players at Glenavon.”