After nine frustrating months out due to injury, Ballinamallard defender Leon Carters admits that it is nice to be back in action.

Powerful centre half Carters captained the side on Monday night as they secured their place in the next round of the WASP Solutions League Cup with a 5-0 win away to Ballymoney and he was simply pleased to be back on the pitch.

“After spending nine months watching from the sidelines it is great to be back in contention and it was good to be back on the team-sheet,” he said.

Carters knee problem is not suited to playing on 3G surfaces which ruled him out of the game against Crusaders and with Steve Feeney performing well alongside Mark Stafford at the heart of the Mallards defence, manager Whitey Anderson opted to keep the pair together for the 2-2 draw with Glentoran last Saturday.

“I have to accept that the two fellas are a bit ahead of me at the minute and they have been playing well so all I can do is bide my time and hopefully when my chance comes I can take it,” stated Carters.

With Stafford rested on Monday night, Carters stepped in to partner Feeney in the centre of the defence with Anderson naming him as captain for the game.

“There is nothing better than playing and it was great to get 90 minutes under my belt and also to have kept a clean-sheet as well. You only have to look at the Linfield game to see that this was a potential banana skin but we spoke beforehand about trying to get a performance. We wanted to keep a clean-sheet and get a few goals and thankfully we were able to do that. The first half was not great but we were good in the second half when we managed to create chance after chance. This was our first competitive win of the season and winning is a habit so hopefully it will give us confidence,” he commented.

Saturday is another big game for the Mallards as they return to league action with a meeting with champions Cliftonville at Ferney Park.

“Getting the win in the cup will have given us a boost and we are looking forward to playing the champions. Cliftonville are a quality side but while we haven’t won a league game we have drawn three out of four and our form has been reasonable. We have been hitting the net which was a problem for us last year and there are plenty of positives for us to take into the game,” he added.