Ballinamallard’s Matty Smyth believes the club’s next match against Carrick is a ‘must win’ game if they are to have a chance of staying in the Premier League next season. 
Defeat on Tuesday night at Ferney Park would leave the Mallards eight points adrift with only four games remaining, so Smyth believes its win or bust.
 “We have a week now until the game against Carrick and that match is massive,” he said. 
“If we win that it brings it down to two points so it’s a make or break game. You can dress it up and say it’s not, but I think it is.”
The defender will go in to the match with renewed confidence, after an upturn in form following the arrival of new manager Harry McConkey.
 “Since Harry has come in we have worked on a few things and we definitely look better and more organised and that gives us a bit of belief especially with the results we have managed to get,” he said.
 “We have our identity back, which we kind of lost for a while there. Against Glenavon we played well. Against Linfield we did well to come back, especially after going down to ten men. When a new manager comes in he is going to get a reaction with people looking to impress, and Harry has got a reaction.”
The sole defeat of Harry’s short reign came on Monday night, when Ballymena scored twice in the first 15 minutes. Despite no points to show for their efforts, Matty still thinks there were plenty of reasons to be positive. 
“It looked a bit nervous and frantic at times,” he admitted. 
“In the first 15 minutes we didn’t start as well as we would have liked. It took us a while to settle in, and then when we did we played well and we had a couple of good chances. In the second half we had them on the back foot and were playing good football.”
After a positive start to his own season when he captured several man of the match awards, Matty admits his form dipped, but he believes he is returning to his best. 
“I started off well and then I hit a bit of a dip in form half way through. I think the last couple of games I have started to pick up again and I’m happy with how I’ve played. 
“I think it is all about confidence, and when you are losing games your confidence is going to be low. It’s hard to keep positive but once you start to get a few results you can see your form picking up again.”
Victory over Carrick would be a massive lift for the whole club, and Matty, who came through the club’s youth system, is in no doubt as to the importance of the next month at Ferney Park. “Staying in the Premier League is huge and all the boys are aware of that, even though they are from all over the place. It has been well drilled into us. I’m confident that we can, given how we have performed in the last three games. Hopefully we get a good turnout for the games and the crowd can get behind us.”