ISAAC BAIRD MAY BE OUT FOR THE SEASON 365f23

Glenavon’s talented young midfielder Isaac Baird may not play again this season. 281l69

The 20-year-old, who was out for a year with a cruciate knee ligament injury, damaged his right hamstring during training on Thursday night.

“It is very frustrating,” he said. “I was looking forward to playing again soon but Chris Loughran, our sports therapist, says that the recovery time will be six or seven weeks. So that probably rules me out until July.”

Isaac, who tore his ACL in February 2024, made several substitute appearances, including coming on as an emergency centre half during the latter stages of the memorable Clearer Water Irish Cup sixth round tie at Solitude, before starting the league clash with Cliftonville in mid-February. Despite his long absence, the Richhill man produced an outstanding display in Glenavon’s 3-1 win.

Then, three days later, he was forced to leave the pitch barely twenty minutes into the league fixture against Larne.

“This time I have damaged a different part of the hamstring I tweaked at Inver Park,” he explained.

“I was really excited to be back playing again last month and thought that I would be able to help the team between now and the end of April but now that is unlikely to happen,” he added.

“I am straight into rehab,” he continued. “I’ll be working hard in the gym from the start of this week.”

The talented student, who played his first match for Glenavon at the start of the 2022-23 season, signed a new multi-year contract in January. He is known to be highly rated by Paddy McLaughlin and his management team.

Everyone at Mourneview Park hopes that Isaac is back on the pitch as soon as possible.