BACK IN ACTION…Full back Chris Crilly could be back on first team duty on Saturday.
It’s has been a stop start couple of weeks for Ballinamallard United, but manager Whitey Anderson will have his boys on their toes for the visit of Glenavon this Saturday.
They will have three two week breaks in nine weeks, but the Ferney Park side, unbeaten in four games will be looking to take a win when Glenavon come calling.
“We had been on a good run and the boys were champing at the bit to stay at it last Saturday. Hopefully the break will have them refreshed for the visit of the Mid Ulster side who we defeated at Ferney in late December,” said Anderson.
But the Ballinamallard manager knows Glenavon can be a dangerous outfit.
“They play with a free spirit going forward and can score goals from all over the place. But we will have to deal with them.
“We have shown good form, especially at home and we have been looking dangerous going forward in recent weeks. We were a bit disappointed with the result at Institute, but not with the performance. The luck didn’t go with us in that one whereas it did in the Coleraine game when we got that late penalty.
‘We’ll be appproaching this one in a very positive frame of mind and our aim will be to win and take three vital points. When you look at the stats we are a top six side in home game and we have shown that consistently. We’ll be taking that sort of positive feeling into the Glenavon game on Saturday.”
Anderson will be without the suspended Johnny Lafferty for the visit of Glenavon, but will have full back Chris Crilly back from injury and is hopeful that Steve Feeney will also be available after tweaking a groin in the Institute game.
“It was a bonus for us on Saturday to have Carters, McMenamin, Beacom and Crilly get a run out in the Reserves. It means we have a strong bench and competition for places all the way through. You need that sort of thing in the closing stages and with only three games left before the split you need them all.”
Anderson has set his boys a five point target between now and the end of the month. That figure should lift them to the upper regions of the bottom six. But he’s not letting the players get carried away and wants to build on that renewed confidence to pick up points in every game.