Ballymena United boss Jim Ervin hoping to add 'two or three' more to squad in bid for Premiership survival

The Sky Blues have already signed Jamie Robinson (on loan from Cliftonville), Sean Brown (on loan from Larne) and Donal Rocks, who has turned his loan spell into a permanent deal at the Showgrounds.

All three played a role in Saturday’s 4-0 Irish Cup fifth round victory over Queens University where Steven McCullough, Noah Stewart, Michael Place and Cathair Friel netted to set up a clash with Linfield.

It marked a third consecutive victory for Ballymena – the first time they’ve achieved that feat since beating Glentoran, Carrick Rangers and Dungannon Swifts last January – ahead of a crunch weekend clash with Dungannon.

Ervin’s men currently sit 11th, six points clear of bottom side Newry City and trailing Rodney McAree’s Swifts by three, with three of their next four league matches coming up against fellow bottom-six sides.

With 14 games left to go, former Linfield defender Ervin is hoping to further bolster his squad for their safety push.

"I thought Sean was really good,” he told the club’s media channel. “It was the first time he'd met the players because he came up Thursday night and we got the forms filled in late on.

"We would have loved to have got him on the pitch sooner (against Queens), but with the way the game was going I thought it would have been unfair on the players that were there.

"He is going to be a really good addition for us and will give us lots of energy on the right-hand side. We look forward to seeing what more he can bring.

"Rocksy has been top drawer since he came in and we pushed the boat out to get him here permanently in January rather than on loan. He was more than happy to come and sign and we're very happy with that.

"Hopefully there will be another two or three to come in during the window and I'm pleased with what we've done in the first week.

"We're starting to get bodies back, getting bodies into the squad and hopefully there will be a few more added to that before the end of January. It's now all about us starting to build a squad rather than just a team and slowly but surely we're getting there."