IRISH LEAGUE: Ervin out to make amends as Sky Blues visit Carrick

Ballymena United skipper Jim Ervin is grateful to have an early chance to '˜put things right' when the Sky Blues resume their Danske Bank Premiership campaign away to Carrick Rangers tomorrow night. (K.O 7.45 p.m.)
Ballymena United captain, Jim Ervin is hoping the Sky Blues can bounce back against Carrick Rangers on Tuesday night.Ballymena United captain, Jim Ervin is hoping the Sky Blues can bounce back against Carrick Rangers on Tuesday night.
Ballymena United captain, Jim Ervin is hoping the Sky Blues can bounce back against Carrick Rangers on Tuesday night.

After a disastrous opening day 4-1 loss to Crusaders at the Showgrounds on Friday night, Ervin took some solace from the quick turnaround in fixtures.However, he’s expecting another tough contest against David McAlinden’s men at Taylor’s Avenue as both sides look to get their first points on the board.A 6-0 drubbing at the hands of Crusaders last season didn’t stop the Sky Blues secure a lofty fourth-place finish so the defender isn’t too downhearted about Friday night’s reversal.“We didn’t get too down on ourselves last year after that result,” said the Ballymena captain. “It was the first game of the season and there’s 38 games to be played. It’s a long, long season and there’ll be a lot of twists and turns between now and next April.“The plus side for us is that Tuesday night comes around very quick. We’re not having to wait a week to get another game.“We’ll dust ourselves down and get ourselves prepared for Tuesday night. It’s going to be another tough game but there’s no easy games in this league, especially the first series of fixtures until you start finding out what teams are about this year.“But we’ll be looking forward to going to Taylor’s Avenue and try and put things right. I know their manager Davy McAlinden very well. He was at our game on Friday night and he’ll have his side well drilled. We’ll expect a really tough game. “We’ve started with Crusaders and have Carrick, Glenavon and Linfield after that so the first four fixtures are not easy. If you don’t have your head right and approach it in the right way then you end up with egg of your face. David (Jeffrey) won’t let us lose our focus and we’ll take one game at a time.”