Ballinamallard United manager Harry McConkey accepts that his side will have to defend better this Saturday when they host David Jeffrey’s Ballymena United in the quarter-final of the Irish Cup.

The Ducks returned to winning ways in the league last Saturday with a thrilling 6-4 victory over PSNI but McConkey acknowledges that some of his side’s defending left a lot to be desired on the day.

“The Ballymena scout was at the game and their gameplan will be easily written for next Saturday and that will be bombard our box because we looked so vulnerable from set plays.

“I thought the tempo of our play was very good but we kept committing schoolboy errors.

“The players themselves know that we have to defend those situations much better and we have done that in the past. I don’t think it is the time to push panic buttons but we know that Ballymena are a big threat from set plays and have quality up front so we have to minimise the opportunities they get for those situations.

“We also have to be much more aggressive in the box and missing Matty Smyth on Saturday was maybe another reason why we didn’t defend so well,” stated the Ducks boss.

The league has been the priority to date for the Mallards but with a semi-final spot in the Irish Cup up for grabs, McConkey and his team have been preparing well for the challenge of Ballymena.

“We have been preparing for this game, we had them watched against Cliftonville and have a detailed report and we also have had a video of the game sent to us,” he said.

And he feels that the key for Ballinamallard is staying in the game as long as possible.

“Having seen Ballymena we realise that the longer you can stay in the game against them the better as they have stumbled at the end of some games so we must stay in the game as long as we possibly can and we did that so well last year,” he added.

McConkey is also looking for a big home crowd to get behind the players.

“I know that Ballymena supporters will come in their bus loads and I would love our own supporters to come out in numbers, be vocal and get a real buzz going in the Fisher Stand and around the pitch because that means so much to the players.”

The Mallards enjoyed a memorable run to the Irish Cup final last year and he says with the game getting close it is stirring up memories of that.

“It brings back that wonderful feeling where nobody is expecting you to do it and there is no question that regardless of Ballymena’s league form, they are big favourites and love playing on the big stage. We love that sense of challenge though and we are well capable of putting it up to them,” he said.

The Mallards will be without Jason McCartney who picked up a head injury last week as well as Ryan Mayse who can’t play against Ballymena as he is on loan from them. McConkey though is hoping to have others available.

“We are hopeful that Nathan Cashel will come through this week after a back problem and that Matty will come back in. Also, Callum Moorehead is set to train this week while we know that we have Darragh McBrien and Micheál added to squad so there will be a bit of a buzz around the ground this week,” he commented.

Last Saturday saw Ballinamallard claim the points against PSNI in a high scoring thriller and with other results going their way it was a good day for the Ducks who climbed back up to second spot.

“There is no doubt about it, that type of game is no good for the heart but when you come out on the right side of the result and you know that your opposition have both dropped points you have to count it as a good day. Yes, we conceded some poor goals but we also found the back of the net six times,” he said.

“You have to keep believing that things will turn and that other teams will drop points and make mistakes. We just have to look after ourselves, we have put ourselves back into second place and psychologically I think that’s a good thing because we know we are going to push Loughgall the whole way at the very least for that second place.”