The games are coming thick and fast for Ballinamallard with a visit to Coleraine on Friday night followed by a JBE League Cup tie against Banbridge Town at Ferney Park on Tuesday night.

And Mallards boss Whitey Anderson is hoping for a good week on the pitch as he targets getting a result against the Bannsiders in the league and progression in a cup competition that they reached the semi-final of last season.

Ballinamallard lost to Portadown last Saturday but the performance pleased Anderson who hopes to build on that over the next week.

“We want to try and push on from last Saturday’s performance. We had a bad record away from home last year as everybody knows but we have started off with a win and loss away from home this season and we want to follow up with a good performance away to Coleraine on Friday night,” he said.

“It is going to be extremely tough. Oran (Kearney) has made a number of quality signings and they are a good side. On top of that going away from home on a Friday night is tough but we have got results there before and we are confident that we can go and do the same thing on Friday night.” Anderson has taken plenty of positives out of last Saturday’s display against Portadown despite the result going against them.

“I was speaking to some people who were at the game and they thought it was as good a performance as they had seen at Ferney Park in a long time. I think the only thing that was missing from my point of view was the result. It was disappointing to give away the two goals we did. The first I thought it could have been defended better, we lost our shape a wee bit at the back. The second we lost possession and from the corner they scored, and again it could have been defended better. The overall performance though I felt was excellent, especially in the second half when some of the football we played was top drawer. I watched the highlights back and we were certainly unlucky not to get an equaliser at least.” The Mallards lost a number of key players during the summer but Anderson has brought in quality in the likes of Shane McCabe, Alvin Rouse and Emmet Friars while Michael McCrudden and Aaron Patterson have also caught the eye. And the manager feels that this squad are capable of pushing up the table.

“I just feel if you can get a wee run in this league you can rocket up the table and I genuinely believe that with the squad we have we are capable of doing that, barring injuries. I think we have much more to be positive about than be negative about,” he commented.

When the Mallards get Friday night’s game out of the way, they will then focus on the cup game against Banbridge Town and Anderson states that a run in the cup is something they have targeted this season.

“We have set out our stall to have a good run in the cups this year. First of all, we have to make sure we treat Banbridge with the respect they deserve and make sure we beat them and get into the next round. Certainly everybody at the club got a taste for it last year and they would love to go a step further than last season and make the final but you just have to take each game as it comes and we’ll certainly be going all out to win the game on Tuesday night.” Whitey also feels that the game is an opportunity for him to get game time for players who have been on the fringes of the side.

“The main thing is to win the game but also if we can get some of the players who have not had a lot of game time and get them up to speed, that would be important,” he stated.