Opinion: Time for ‘cotton wool’ treatment, ahead of big day

Fringe players like Michael Ruddy will be aiming to stake their claim for a place in Glenn Ferguson's Irish Cup final squad in the remaining games. Picture: Press Eye.

Glenn Ferguson will certainly be glad if he hears the final whistle go at Warrenpoint Town’s Milltown ground this afternoon with all of his Irish Cup final squad having emerged unscathed.

You can understand the manager wanting to field somewhere near his cup final panel for what will effectively be their final outing together ahead of the May 3 date with Glenavon.

It was a relatively strong Ballymena line-up which drew at Ballinamallard at the weekend and Ferguson has still to add the returning Johnny Taylor, Aaron Stewart and Gary Thompson to his panel.

This Saturday’s Ards game, I suspect, will be a complete change to the starting XI, similar to what Ferguson did the week before the Irish Cup semi-final. It’s an ideal opportunity for Ferguson to take a look at some of the younger players at his disposal and perhaps unearth a gem who might form part of his plans for next season.

It’s also the last chance for the club’s fringe players to change Ferguson’s mind, although I would imagine that, if everyone is fit, the manager will already know his starting XI for Windsor Park.

No matter who might try to argue otherwise, the last few league games have been insignificant distractions ahead of the cup final.

When the final whistle eventually blows on the league campaign this Saturday, the focus will finally shift to the main event.

What a pity, then, that one of the absolute fundamentals of the build-up for supporters - actually buying their match tickets - has been delayed due to a printing error which means fans won’t be able to pick them up until Thursday of this week.

If it’s an indication, Glenavon’s tickets - which, strangely, haven’t been affected - have sold quickly in the early days of going on sale and Ballymena’s will doubtless do the same.

The various outlets and their opening hours are included on the back page of this week’s paper and business will undoubtedly be brisk - it has been fantastic to see the buzz the Irish Cup final has created around the borough already.

With tickets on sale this week also for the club’s excellent train service initiative, in conjunction with Translink, the excitement is building ahead of the biggest game in years.

* Follow Ballymena Times Sports Editor Stephen Alexander on Twitter (@Stephen_Bmena)