Irish League boss 'hoping to add at least one more' during 'crazy' January transfer window

The Sky Blues have signed former Derry City ace Patrick McEleney and ex-Republic of Ireland youth international Kian Corbally, who made his debut in Saturday’s stalemate with Carrick Rangers at Taylors Avenue.

Ballymena have been linked with a number of players this month, most notably Gavin Whyte, who ultimately opted to join Northern Ireland team-mates Shane Ferguson and Liam Boyce at Derry City.

The Irish League transfer landscape has changed in recent years with Larne emerging as a force in the market while Coleraine continue to make significant moves, reportedly securing Joel Cooper and Levi Ives on pre-contract deals after signing Ronan Doherty this month.

Ballymena made waves of their own by acquiring the likes of Ben Kennedy and Daniel Lafferty last summer, but Ervin says many factors have to be taken into account as his side look to build.

"We're hoping to add at least one more, if not two,” Ervin told the club’s media channel. “The market is crazy with everyone fighting for the same type of personnel and we've been looking far and wide.

"We need to make sure they are the right player for Ballymena and right financially in what we can offer and what they are looking.

"That's the difficulty sometimes when you're looking at players...it's alright having a chat but when you get into wages and things like that it becomes difficult, especially with the way the league is going with full-time clubs.

"We'll make sure they fall into the budget and they are the right fit for Ballymena. We'll continue working hard until the window closes and I hope we can add one, if not two, more to the squad and kick us on until the end of this season."

Corbally’s arrival at the Showgrounds was only announced on Tuesday but he was immediately thrown into action against Carrick, playing 65 minutes in a draw which leaves Ballymena sitting eighth in the Premiership.

"He came in this week, trained really well and was probably surprised we played him, but just due to personnel and injuries, he found himself starting,” added Ervin on Corbally. “It's going to take him a week or two to settle and see what we're about...I thought he showed glimpses of what we can expect from him.

"It's difficult coming away to Carrick on a sticky pitch but he'll come good for us and we look forward to what he can produce in the coming weeks."

Since winning eight consecutive matches to temporarily move top of the table in October, Ballymena have only won two of their last 11 league games, but Ervin was pleased with their defensive showing at Carrick, collecting a sixth clean sheet of the campaign.

"We know what it's going to be like coming down to Carrick, they'll put you under a lot of pressure and I thought defensively we were super,” he said. “We restricted them to very few chances and even the chances they did have were from distance.

"I'm very happy from a defensive point of view...going the other way we'd few chances but we'd opportunities where we maybe should have pulled the trigger a bit earlier. It's a point away from home and we will look to build on it.”