Ballinamallard manager Harry McConkey now has a clear focus as he gets down to readying his side for the new season.

A NIFL investigation into licensing issues had left a cloud over the club this last few months but that has now been concluded with the club facing no action and with a start date for the new season having also been released there is now a clear roadmap ahead for McConkey.

And he has already started to re-shape his playing pool with the club closing in on a couple of new faces.

Having lost Ryan O’Reilly to Cliftonville and Sean McEvoy to Bray Wanderers and with Nathan Cashel having rejoined NFC Kesh, McConkey is keen to fill the gaps.

Mattie Buchanan has agreed to join the club from Dergview while McConkey cast his eye over Niall Grace in a friendly game against Enniskillen Town on Saturday.

“Mattie Buchanan has agreed to join us and with Ryan O’Reilly going to Cliftonville we feel he would be a great addition for us.

“We were also delighted to have Niall Grace make a guest appearance on Saturday and we are hopeful of being able to confirm something there soon,” said McConkey.

In terms of other signings, McConkey insists that it is all about bringing in quality to add to the squad.

“We’ve been building here since June 2018 and we want to keep on building and pushing on. We have a lot of the players re-signed and with regards others coming in, at this stage quality is more important than quantity. If we can get that quality then it is something we could be interested in,” he said.

McConkey is also pleased that there is now at last clarity on the licensing issue.

“We feel at long last that we have some clarity when there has been absolutely none and we have been swilling around every week with players asking you questions that you simply couldn’t answer.

“Now I can talk clearly to my players and offer them a vision again because you didn’t know where we would be or what would happen with everything that was going on. It’s good for the players, staff and the whole club that it is now resolved and we know where we are,” he said.

And a provisional date for the start of the season has also been welcomed by McConkey.

“We are very pleased to have that because we have always been searching for an end line. Several dates have been thrown about including mid September and I thought that was probably an accurate one. It is a month later than that but at least we know now when it will start and we can work towards that,” he said.

McConkey feels that the league could have started in September but understands NIFL’s decision to not commence until October with the aim of having supporters back in the ground.

“When they come back they want to do that with crowds. A lot of the Premiership clubs and also some of the Championship clubs feel they cannot exist without the gate money and therefore that is the main factor in it. But in regards of players and being able to play, my boys could certainly start in the middle of September. I understand the reason though and we don’t underestimate the value of having supporters at games for both the players and the supporters themselves. We are also very conscious that when supporters come back they have to feel safe to do so.”

The Mallards will continue their preparations with some high quality friendly games lined up against the likes of Coleraine, Dungannon, Crusaders, Cliftonville and Warrenpoint.

“We have some really good games to look forward to. It is different preparation than any other season and I’ve just said to the boys to take it week by week and look forward to the game that we have each week.

“The only weeks we haven’t got a game are September 12 and October 3 and I’m are waiting on Ballymena and Linfield to come back to me so there is plenty of games against quality opposition,” he added.

Ballinamallard took on Fermanagh and Western side Enniskillen Town last Saturday, a game they won 8-1, while they will play Enniskillen Rangers on Thursday night with Tummery Athletic the opponents on Saturday.

Ryan Campbell opened the Mallards account against Town early on and some fine finishing saw them net eight with Josh McIlwaine(2), Darragh McBrien, Reece Byrne, Sam Robb, Lee Frazer and Ryan Mayse, with a super finish, all on target.

Dara Carty struck for Town with a superbly hit free kick.

McConkey was pleased with the workout for his side.

“It was very beneficial for us and we had some very good individual performances and some very good finishes. The scoreline is irrelevant at this time of the year and it was harsh on Town as they missed a number of good chances and they played some good football. From our point of view though there was some good positive things and that’s what we wanted.”

He was also delighted to welcome some Ferney Park old boys back with Enniskillen Town.

“It was lovely to see James McKenna, Shane McCabe, Ryan McCluskey and Cathal Beacom back here on the pitch,” he added.