'I’ve no doubt he will be a pillar at Glentoran for a long time' - Declan Devine hails Glentoran Player of the Year after making history

Organised by the Castlereagh GSC, the award has been running since 1958 with Russell the latest recipient – seeing off competition from the likes of Fuad Sule, David Fisher and Daire O’Connor – and he’s set to lift the prize before tonight’s crucial European play-off semi-final against Coleraine.

According to Glentoran’s website, Northern Ireland U21 international Russell is the youngest-ever player to win the award in its 66-year existence at the age of only 19.

After spending the second-half of last season on-loan at Championship outfit Dundela, Russell made his first Premiership start in November and has been a mainstay since, registering 25 league appearances throughout the campaign.

“Obviously our season hasn’t been anywhere near good enough this year but hopefully we can turn this into two good performances in the next week and hopefully achieve Europe,” Russell told the club’s website. “On a personal note I’m delighted to achieve this award at such a big club and hopefully can keep performing for the seasons to come in a Glentoran shirt.

"I want to thank all the staff and players who’ve helped me achieve this award this season and hopefully it’s the first of many achievements at Glentoran.”

Former manager Warren Feeney said earlier this season that Russell had the potential to become a future Glentoran captain and current boss Declan Devine also believes the young defender can make a big impact in East Belfast.

“I’ve said since I came here that we have a tremendous amount of young talent at this club and we saw it first-hand against Crusaders,” he said. “Jonny is a perfect example of that young talent.

"A very talented and enthusiastic lad who has been outstanding in his first full season and who I’ve no doubt will be a pillar at Glentoran for a long time to come.

"He clearly shows that if a young player has the attitude to match his ability the Bet McLean Oval will be the right place to be. Well done Jonny.”

On tonight’s showdown with Coleraine, Devine added: “It goes without saying that tonight is a very big game for us and European qualification is a very big prize.

"While I was disappointed at our performance last month at Coleraine, there wasn’t a lot between the two teams and the result really hung on two goals from a couple of individual errors from players who don’t normally make them.

"Coleraine are a good team who were on a decent run of form before the past couple of weeks so we need to be aware of that, but also our players need to go into this one knowing that they finished above Coleraine in the table and remember they had a very good win over them last time they visited The Oval a couple of months ago.”