Experienced midfielder Duwayne McManus is hoping that the attacking quality that Ballinamallard have in their ranks will see them through to the next round of the Irish Cup on Saturday when they face local rivals Dergview at Ferney Park.

The Mallards have been in fine scoring form in their warm up games for the cup encounter and McManus feels the threat they have up front could be decisive on the day.

"You have Rocket (Ryan Campbell) who's goals speak for themselves and that might be the difference on the day - he is a proven goalscorer. Then you have wee Darragh McBrien who has come back bigger and stronger and is flying at the minute so he is a threat to any team while Jason McCartney still possesses that wee bit of quality.

"We have plenty of threats in the final third which will hopefully get us over the line," he said.

However, McManus is also more than aware of the danger that Dergview carry as well and he is expecting a tough contest.

"Dergview are a good side and they have plenty of quality too, you have the likes of the Matthew Kirk and Matty Callaghan who will cause you problems. It should be a good tough game," he added.

He also believes that the fact that the game is at the Ducks home of Ferney Park will be to their advantage.

"It is great to have the home draw and the big pitch will suit us. I think the opening 20 minutes are going to be tight, it is a derby game and there will be tackles flying in left, right and centre but I hope that once the game settles down that the quality that we have will shine through and get us through the game," said Duwayne.

The season to date has been a non-starter for teams below the Premiership as start dates have come and gone due to Covid-19 restrictions. Those teams plying in the Irish Cup though were given the go-ahead to return to training at the beginning of April and McManus has enjoyed being back as a group.

"It's great to be back, it has been a long road since March last year. The first training session back you could see the smile on everybody's face and we are just glad to be back as a group doing something even if it is only for a short time," he explained.

And he says that with a tough competition for places, everybody has been keen to catch the eye when the opportunity has arose.

"We have trained hard for the last four weeks and everyone is buying in. Everyone knows that there is a big squad there, there is two people for every position and the way the friendlies were you had to go out and impress when you were given your chance and hopefully you do enough to get into the starting eleven on Saturday."

The name of the game then on Saturday will be getting through and putting themselves in the hat for the next round and while McManus knows it will be a big test, he is confident that the Ducks can progress.

"We want to do well in the cup. Of course, Dergview is going to be a tough game but we have beaten them the last two times we have played them and we will be confident going into the tie," he stated.