Cup clash kicks off crunch week for United

The Sky Blues have one just one of their last 10 Danske Bank Premiership matches and sit precariously above the relegation play-off zone but Ferguson believes that victory over the Ports would give the club a massive lift.

“I think no matter who you are, if you’re on a cup run it builds momentum and confidence and it’s a good distraction from the pressures of the league.

“But we’re under no illusions - it’s going to be a tough, tough game but we’re at home so I’ll expect our boys to work as hard and play as well as we did on Saturday.

“We’ve already beaten them at Ballymena and it would be nice to be in the hat for the semi-finals on Tuesday night.”

Ferguson could be forgiven for having one eye on this Saturday’s crunch home league game with Ards, who sit just two points behind the Sky Blues.

“One win in our last 10 league games is not a good stat and the table doesn’t lie but I’ve been pleased with the performances over the last three or four games.

“Cliftonville didn’t look that much better than us, Glentoran last week didn’t look that much better than us.

“If we can keep that type of form going into the Ards, Warrenpoint and Ballinamallard games, I would be pretty confident we’ll get results in them.

“Those games will probably make or break our season so we’ve got to keep that momentum going hopefully we can make our own luck - the harder we work, the more chances we’ll get.

* Seven Towers Ballymena United Supporters’ Club has expressed its sympathy to the family of club member Bertie Rock, who passed away at the weekend.