Jim Ervin praises 'amazing' Ballymena United fans for role in Premiership winning run and calls for more of the same in Coleraine derby showdown
Ballymena United manager Jim Ervin hailed the club’s “amazing” supporters for playing a key role in their Premiership run with the home stand already sold out for Saturday’s derby showdown against Coleraine.
Pressure was undoubtedly mounting on boss Ervin after the Sky Blues lost their opening four league matches of the season following a narrow escape from relegation last term, but since then they’ve won eight on the trot – and 11 across competitions – to turn their fortunes around.
This sort of winning streak hasn’t been seen at the Showgrounds since 2018 when David Jeffrey led Ballymena to a second-placed Premiership finish and into Europa League qualifying.
They’ve beaten the likes of defending champions Larne, Glentoran and Cliftonville in recent weeks but will be out to avenge defeat to neighbours Coleraine in mid-August and Ervin has praised the supporters for getting behind his team.
"The fans have been amazing,” he said. “We said it last year when we went through a difficult time that we needed supporters to come out in their numbers and be patient with the players, but back the players.
"Players feed off the atmosphere inside the ground. There are two ways of looking at it – there can be a negative atmosphere which becomes too much for you, and you start doing things you wouldn't normally do.
"Ultimately, from my time as a player or manager, the backing I have received, and the players, has been top drawer.
"We need that on more occasions. The night we beat Institute to stay up, we want the ground packed out like that more often than not. Yes, it is still early days, but the fact we have a sold out home stand in October is fantastic.
"We can't get carried away with that, we still have our jobs to do. We can't look to the stands to see who is there. We just ask them for their backing on Saturday for 90 minutes, and be patient with us in the game because we will be under the cosh in stages.
"If they give us their encouragement, then the players will feed off that. The crowd we took to Portadown a few weeks back, and to Mourneview on Saturday, was fantastic. We need that more often than not."
Victory this weekend would mean Ballymena have already picked up more wins in 13 matches this term (nine) than in 38 last season (eight), while another three points takes them just one away from the complete haul of 2023/24.
That further underlines just how dramatic their turnaround in form has been, but Ervin isn’t getting carried away with league position or statistics.
"We just need to keep doing what we have been doing,” he added. “We can't change our focus or mindset.
"It's been the same speech and talk to the players every week. Each game will look after itself and we can't look too far ahead. Our full focus is on Coleraine.
"We all know each other throughout the league and what to expect from a Dean Shiels Coleraine side. We need our heads in gear and the right attitude. It will be an extremely difficult game.
"Look at last year and the roles were probably reversed. We would have been rock bottom, but we beat Coleraine twice before Christmas. It was two of our four wins before Boxing Day.
"So we know how difficult each game is, regardless of where you are in the league. Especially for a derby game."