Two wins from their final two games before the split will see the Mallards make the top six in the Championship and that is target that manager Harry McConkey has set for his players following their win over Institute on Tuesday night.

The Ducks are away to third placed Annagh on Saturday before travelling to bottom of the table Knockbreda a week later and six points is the goal for the Ducks.

“It is still in our hands, and that is the important thing. We have to be targeting maximum points from those two games if we can because maximum points would secure us top six,” said Mallard boss McConkey.

The focus though for the Mallards will be just on Annagh for now and McConkey is expecting a reaction from them after their 4-1 derby loss to table toppers Loughgall on Tuesday. Annagh are going through a tough spell at present with that their fifth defeat in a row and the McConkey says that they will be eager to turn their form back around.

“They will be a dangerous animal. There neighbours down the road, Loughgall, have turned them over big time so no doubt they will be determined to get off the ropes again and I expect there will be a ding dong battle.

“They are now starting to feel the pressure a bit and have been on a bad run but they will want to bring that to an end,” said McConkey.

The Mallards have lost to Annagh twice this season but McConkey stresses that there hasn’t been much between the sides at times in those games.

“Annagh have turned us over twice this season already and we feel we owe them one.

“The games we have had against them there has been moments in the game that I felt we were every bit as good as them but we have made errors and let them get their oxygen from a first goal.

“The last time we were up there it was 1-0 but we lost Roy (Carroll) to a hamstring and then we had a blatant penalty for a foul on Caolan McAleer which the referee admitted afterwards was a penalty but he didn’t give it and that would have been 1-1 but as it was they went up the pitch after that and scored and that was the game dead.

“We have to be at our very best if we are to get anything out of it. It is a difficult pitch but we have gone there before and pulled off some great results so it is not beyond us,” he commented.

McConkey though will again be short on numbers due to injuries and suspensions with John Edgar the latest players added to the treatment table after he picked up an injury in Tuesday night’s win at Institute.

“We have injuries and John Edgar will now be out for that too. We are really, really stretched, we are running out of numbers at the moment.

“We went with a smaller squad this year and let a few boys go in January but it is really testing us now and that is unfortunate,” he said.

McConkey has had to look to youth in recent weeks and has been delighted with how the younger players have performed when called upon although he acknowledges that it is key to have an experienced core to help them along.

“We would love to be going there with all our big guns but the boys who have been playing and representing the club with those lads not available have been so far outstanding and we have to take hope from that. It is everything to play for.

“It is how they learn and throwing them in at the deep end can surprise you sometimes. You might feel that they are not just ready and you want to protect them a little bit but circumstances dictate and suddenly you put them in and they hold their own. The kids want to play for the seniors but we have good senior players in there too to support them and that is very important.

“In the latter games Richard Clarke and Mark Stafford have been outstanding as leaders of the team. Aaron Arkinson has also been so consistent and Ben McCann and Ryan Morris while still young themselves have been around the block along with Macca and they have shown that they know what it takes.”

On the win over Institute, he added: “I thought we managed the game really well in the first half against the breeze and then we played well in the second half and it was great to see Stevie (Drumm) come on and get the goal.

“It was an important win, after the draw on Saturday against Newington.

“It gives us a bit of a feel good factor now about us and we want to harness that and go to Annagh on Saturday and express ourselves,” he concluded.