Ballinamallard will be hoping to return to winning ways this Saturday when they host Knockbreda at Ferney Park.

The Mallards have suffered four successive league defeats on the bounce and sit in the bottom reaches of the table but manager Harry McConkey does not feel that tells the whole story of how things have gone so far for his side.

The Ducks boss has not only had to deal with putting a new squad together but within that he has had a string of injuries which have not helped his case.

However, he is hoping that those injuries are starting to clear up with the likes of Richard Clarke, Duwayne McManus, Sean McAvoy and Ryan O'Reilly nearing full fitness. However, Matty Smyth will miss out this week having suffered a knock to the head against Portadown.

"We are starting to see players returning and the squad getting stronger and we are hoping that we can start to turn the corner with that strength back in the squad. Clearly, we have been stretched and we would love to have those players back in," he said.

The injuries have opened the door for others to come in and show their worth and McConkey felt that the performance of two of his younger players were the big positives to come out of last week's defeat to Ballyclare Comrades.

"What put a smile on my face was the performance of Micheal Glynn, he was excellent for us on Friday night. Simon Warrington was another who pleased me. He has a great attitude and was another plus from the game," he stated.

It may be four league defeats in a row but McConkey will be looking to end that at home on Saturday, where he feels performances have been decent.

"We feel that in three out of our four home performances we have played some good football. We won the first game, we certainly capitulated against Dergview which was disappointing but we came back against Lurgan Celtic and against Portadown in terms of getting ourselves an identity of how we want to play and the way we want to play at home particularly where we want to be offensive and we want to cause teams problems. Hopefully we can continue that on Saturday against Knockbreda," commented McConkey.

A quick look at the table will show you that the Mallards four defeats have come against sides sitting in the top five so is it a case of good to have those games out of the way?

"There is two ways to look at that but I always feel it is a good time to get those teams, when they haven't go into their full stride. However, the league is showing that those teams like Portadown and Larne are finding it tough, tougher than they maybe anticipated. I always felt it wouldn't just be about those two teams, Carrick are starting to pick up again, Ballyclare are up there, Dergview are one of the high flyers and Dundela are flying too. It makes for a tight league but for us it is putting an extra challenge on what we always knew was going to be a difficult situation. It is now a real test of character and huge learning for all of us, coaches and players alike."

And McConkey stresses that while he knows it is going to take time, he feels they are making progress.

"We are an honest bunch and we are doing are best. The league clearly tells you that is not very good but I have to believe that there is a lot more to it than that and it is my job to lead the club. We knew that this was going to take time and there will be knocks along the way but I still feel that we keep moving forward every week even if that is not reflected in the table," he concluded.