United missing eight players for Linfield opener

The Ballymena United boss will need every body he can muster as the under-strength Sky Blues begin their Danske Bank Premiership campaign at home to Linfield (3pm).

No fewer than EIGHT of Ferguson’s first team squad will be unavailable for the visit of the Blues for a variety of reasons.

Four players - miss out through suspensions carried over from last season.

Tony Kane completes a six match ban handed down for a head-butting offence at the end of last season while Chris Rodgers, Gavin Taggart and new signing Gary Thompson are all serving one match bans for accumulating five yellows cards - 10 in Taggart’s case - in the previous campaign.

Injuries have also taken their toll with left-back Ross Black still out for a couple of weeks with ligament damage after going over on his ankle in the warm-up ahead of the recent friendly against Dundalk.

Centre-back Denver Gage, who missed most of last season with a groin problem, is back in light training but nowhere near match fitness, while teenage striker Neil Lowry, who sustained a shoulder injury in the under-19s’ recent Foyle Cup campaign, is back in non-contact training.

Throw in the fact that utility player Mark Surgenor is absent - he is at a wedding this Saturday - and it’s a real opening day baptism of fire against the league champions.

“The suspension rule is a bit archaic in my opinion - for instance, you’ve got Gary Thompson who probably played 40-odd games for Distillery last season and because he was booked five times, he misses the start of a new season.

“Obviously you would like to be taking on Linfield with your strongest possible team but that’s not possible and we will just get on with it.

“The bench is certainly likely to be very young but I’m confident the players we’ll choose can rise to the occasion.

“The opportunity is there for them if they play well to stay in the team - they won’t simply be stop-gaps.

“We’ve tried to bring young players into the first team squad for the pre-season games to give them a taste of what it’s like and they will add depth to the squad over the season.

“It’s good to be back in competitive action again - we’ve had a good pre-season in which we’ve remained unbeaten and we haven’t conceded many goals which is pleasing.

“Our performance against Derriaghy on Saturday maybe wasn’t up to the standard of some of our other displays but overall it’s been a pleasing pre-season and our fitness levels are good,” added Ferguson.

The match ball for Saturday’s game will be sponsored by United official Jimmy Somerville.

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