Ballinamallard travel to Ballymena this weekend in a dress rehearsal for next month’s League Cup semi-final. After a bright opening to the season that saw them top the league table, Glenn Ferguson’s Ballymena have slid dramatically down the standings and have struggled to get a win in recent weeks. Saturday’s draw against bottom club Warrenpoint halted a run of four consecutive league defeats, but despite his opponents not recording a win since September, Whitey is preparing for a tough battle on Saturday.

“Ballymena are a good side,” he said. “Everybody talks about winnable games but I don’t believe that. It’s a load of nonsense. The reality is that every game is tough in this league and we are going to have to be on the money to get a result.” The League Cup semi-final draw that pitted the clubs against each other at Ferney Park on December 16 has added extra significance to the clash, and after a good week on the pitch for the club, Whitey was delighted to see his luck continue with a home draw.

“To get a home draw is fantastic and it means the world to everybody,” he said. “We will get a great support that night and I’m sure the place will be rocking. Ballymena are a good side and they have a manager in Glenn Ferguson who has a good pedigree in cup competitions, but we will just look after ourselves. Obviously we have league points to worry about before that, but it’s a league cup semi-final and I can’t emphasise how fantastic it is. I’m delighted for the chairman, the committee, the supporters, everybody connected with the club. It’s going to be a fantastic night.” There are four league games before the cup encounter, and the players will be determined to force their way into the manager’s thoughts and play a part in what is set to be a historic night.

“There is competition for places and I’m sure everybody will be chomping at the bit to play in the semi-final of the league cup,” said Whitey. “If they want to play in the semi-final they are going to have to play well in the next four or five games.” The manager will be hoping they can maintain their current form which saw them complete the week with a 2-0 league victory over Institute.

“It’s been a good week,” acknowledged Whitey. “A draw with Crusaders and then getting through to the semi-final of a senior cup, but the most important result was probably the most recent one. I was a bit worried that the players would be a bit tired after Tuesday but the boys in the second half, I don’t know where they got the energy from. They just kept going and showed a real desire and hunger.” For the second time in five days, penalties were crucial to the Mallard’s success. “If they had scored their penalty it probably gives them a lift and missing it knocked them back a bit and gave us a lift,” said Whitey. “Institute and ourselves like to get the ball down and play as much football as possible but the pitch doesn’t suit that and both teams I think decided to play the ball long at times. We decided at half time to get a few balls in behind, and that is where we got our penalty from. It might be ugly looking but sometimes you have to play the conditions. We hit the post and the crossbar and I thought in the second half we were the better side. In the first half they had probably three chances on goal whereas we didn’t have a lot, but 45 minutes later you come out and it’s a different game. It was like against Glentoran the other night. In the first half we were phenomenal and some of the boys have said it was some of the best football they have ever seen us playing, and then in the second half we couldn’t keep the ball at all. Football is a mind-set thing, but I’m just delighted to get the three points. It’s now two defeats in eight games and we can’t complain about that.”