Dungannon Swifts boss Rodney McAree determined to look up the Premiership table rather than over their shoulder after Ballymena United victory

Dean Curry, who signed a contract extension earlier in the week, put Dungannon ahead after 14 minutes before Michael Place brought the hosts back on level terms.

The Swifts responded with an ultimately match-defining double before the break as Ben Gallagher netted his eighth league goal of the season and Adam Glenny struck in added time to send Dungannon into half-time with a healthy advantage.

Fraser Taylor sparked hope of a Ballymena comeback in the 54th minute but Glenny’s second in the dying moments secured a third consecutive victory for McAree’s men across competitions.

They are now six points clear of Ballymena and 12 ahead of the league’s bottom side Newry City with 13 games left to play, but the County Tyrone outfit will instead be focusing on the current five-point gap between them and sixth-placed Glenavon.

"We try to focus on the team above us, so we've looked at the positive side of it instead of the negative side of it and always looking over our shoulder at what's coming behind or are they getting closer to us,” McAree told BBC Sportsound. "So we try to focus on the teams above us, we want to drag another team into it.

"We want to bypass a team and that's a challenge between now and the end of the season.”

All four of Dungannon’s goals, which brought their seasonal team tally to 43 – a number which can only be bettered by the Premiership’s top-four – came as a result of set-pieces with two corners and two free-kicks bringing significant success.

Given the importance of the game in opening up a buffer at the bottom, McAree insists it was the most pleasing victory of the six they’ve collected so far in this campaign.

"As good a three points as we've had all season (but) probably not one of our better performances,” he added. "But we showed great character and a determination that we wanted to get something out of the game and we certainly didn't want to get beat.

"We don't rely on set-pieces, we feel as if we create enough opportunities from open play, but today it was completely flipped on its head and we did rely on set-pieces.

"It was about coming here, making sure we didn't get beat and trying to win the game. We go up the road a happy bunch.

"We don't really have much time (to work on set-pieces) but I'll give it (the credit) to Terry Fitzpatrick...he works tirelessly behind the scenes. Everybody knows their roles and responsibilities and he's very good at what he does.”

During the January transfer window, McAree has lost vice-captain Ethan McGee to Linfield while bringing in striker Andrew Mitchell and admits while he’s delighted with his current squad, if the right opportunity pops up he’d be interested in doing business.

"I'm happy with what I have in this moment in time...if the right player crops up and he's available and within our range then, yes, of course we'd be interested,” he said. "But at this moment in time I'm happy with what I have and if they continue doing what they're doing then we'll be okay.

"All we have to focus on is improving every time and trying to become better and get better. We're picking up points in the league, we're not too far away from what we got last season as a club.

"So we want to bypass that as quickly as we can also...we're in a good place. It's enjoyable, a good bunch of people we're working with and it's good at the moment."