Ballinamallard United manager Whitey Anderson has confirmed that the club have re-signed Jake Dykes to the end of the season from Sligo Rovers.
The Mallards were dealt a blow earlier this week with the news that impressive centre half Colm McLaughlin could be out for up to six weeks with a torn cartilage in his hip and Anderson has moved quickly to bring Dykes back to Ferney Park.
“It is a massive blow to have lost Colm for what could be six weeks as he is a big player for us and has been excellent this season,” said Anderson. 
“We knew the situation with Colm didn’t look good and we knew that Jake would be available up to the end of the season so we have pounced quickly to get Jake back on board. 
"He is a young player with fantastic attitude and is very professional. We feel he can do a job at centre back which is his natural position and that’s where we are bringing him back in.”
Dykes joins Ivan Sproule and Ryan Mayse as the Mallards new recruits this month and Anderson has been pleased with how the other two have settled in so far.
“Ivan is such an infectious character. He sets high standards and that rubs off on the players. He has been excellent in training and I’m just looking forward to seeing what he brings to the table over the next three and half months,” commented the Mallards boss, who has also been impressed with Mayse who signed from Dergview. 
“Ryan Mayse has another week’s training under his belt and he has looked very sharp. He looks hungry and keen and he has shown in training that he can finish and that’s what we need at the top end of the pitch, somebody who can score goals.”
Indeed, Anderson is not ruling out adding further to his squad before the window shuts.
“There is a lot of balls in the air and we may get another one in but we may not,” he stated.
It is back to league business this Saturday with the Mallards facing a trip to Solitude to take on Cliftonville. And things are getting even tighter at the bottom after Warrenpoint produced two big wins to bring them back to within touching distance at the foot of the table.
“Nobody expects us to get anything at Cliftonville so anything we get from it will be a bonus.
“We know now the situation we are in, it is 15 cup finals in many respects but we’ll just take one game at a time. We know that we’ll get nothing easy up there, they still have aspirations to challenge for the league so they still have a lot to play for.
“Any point you can get though is vital, and it is going to be that way right through to the end of the season. 
"Warrenpoint have had a couple of great results this week but all we can do is look after ourselves and I’m still confident that we can do what is necessary to stay in the Premier League.”
And he says that it is all about character between now and the end of the season.
“The players are working hard and they know themselves what is required.
"I’ve said many times that sport doesn’t build character, it reveals character, and  no doubt we’ll see the true character of these players over the next few months,” he said.
It is fair to say though that the Mallards fate won’t be decided against the likes of Cliftonville but rather against those sides around them in the table. Ballinamalard have performed reasonably well against the sides sitting towards the top end of the table but have been poor against the sides around them.
 Anderson accepts that they have to improve their form against sides in the bottom half of the table.
“We’ve done reasonably well against the top six sides but it is the sides that are in and around us that we have not delivered against and that has us in the situation we are in. 
"That has to be down to the mentality of the players and something that needs to be sorted out. I think you will see a different mindset whenever we play these teams from now on,” he stated.