Ballinamallard are looking to banish memories of recent Dergview defeats and win at Darragh Park when they face their local rivals on Saturday. 

The Mallards’ derby opponents have held the upper hand in many of their recent encounters, with Ballinamallard only winning two of the last 10 league fixtures between the pair.

Ballinamallard did get the better of them at the start of this season, but they slipped to defeat on Boxing Day when Dergview claimed a slender 1-0 victory.

Manager Tommy Canning is looking to make amends for that defeat this weekend.

“We felt that we let ourselves down a bit the last time we were at Darragh Park in terms of how we played in the early stages of the game, so we will be looking to rectify that,” he said.

“It has always been a difficult venue for Ballinamallard to go to and so I don’t expect Saturday to be any different.

"Dergview are a proud club, and they will be fighting for their lives, and they love nothing better than turning over Ballinamallard. We will have to deal with that, but we go there with a bit of confidence. We are on a decent run of form and we are playing well.”

Canning’s squad options for the game have been hit by injury to Peter Maguire and the suspension of Alex Holder, but he is confident others can step in to fill the gaps left by the absence of two of the team's most influential players.

“It is disappointing for those two boys and they are big players for us, but it is an opportunity for some of the midfielders who are there,” he said.

“John Edgar, Ultan O’Grady and Gary Armstrong have all been waiting, and it brings Dean Corrigan closer to an opportunity with Peter out.

"They have been waiting for their chance in a team that is going well, so we will see how it goes and who trains well during the week and then make a decision on who we are going to put in the team.”

Ballinamallard’s recent run of good form was halted by defeat to Portadown on Saturday.

The Mallards scored early through Callum Moorehead but failed to build on their early lead, and Canning was disappointed that his side’s first-half showing did not replicate their form of recent weeks.

“For a large part of the first half we didn’t bring anything to the game in terms of what we have been doing over the last few months,” he admitted.

“We didn’t really play at all. After we went a goal ahead we got into a situation where we started to go long with the ball, and we were sloppy in possession and reluctant to get on the ball. I thought we were a bit fearful and there was a bit of anxiety in them, which I hadn’t seen before.

"That type of game suited Portadown more, and when it becomes that type of game they are better than us. We just weren’t in control of the game.

“We went into half-time asking the players why they weren’t doing what we had been doing for months that had served us well.

"In the second half [Aaron] Arkinson and Ryan Morris got really high and James McGrath got a lot higher with McIlwaine, and Alex Holder started to run with the ball and we were a bit more brave on it and I thought we were more like ourselves.

"After we went 2-1 down we threw everything we could at it and put two up top, but we paid the price for our first-half performance after the goal.”