Muir rings up belated move to Ballymena

Muir had been a long-time target of Walker but after an injury put paid to any move in the summer, the winger has had a short-term spell at Clyde and a trial at Cork City before finally ending up at the Showgrounds.

“I was keen to come to Ballymena in the summer but I had a fractured metatarsal,” Muir told Times Sport.

I left Clyde and went to Cork City last week and I've just been ticking over with a junior team. There were a lot of other players at Cork who had been brought there to sign but all the advice I was hearing was not to sign.

“I have always stayed in touch with Roy since the summer and I phoned him and asked 'are you looking any midfielders?' and we've been talking for a couple of weeks.”

Muir marked his debut at Institute on Saturday by hitting the free kick from which Unitedscored their equaliser but admitted afterwards: “I'm not sure if I can claim it after the deflection it took. I didn't celebrate it much but I'll take it anyway.

“Once the boys get to know me I reckon I'll get on the ball a bit more. I was in space quite a lot but the ball didn't come to me as much as I would have liked.

“We have decent players at the club and there is a lot of potential but the last three months of the season are going to be a crucial time because the games will be coming thick and fast.

“I've just got a qualification as a fitness instructor, building towards being a personal trainer so I have no excuses about getting up and down the park!” added Gary.