Oran Kearney admits Ballymena United 'nearly have too many players' with January exits likely
Ballymena United manager Oran Kearney concedes his side “nearly have too many players” and anticipates a number of January departures after Saturday’s 2-0 Premiership defeat to Dungannon Swifts.
The Sky Blues are now only two points above 11th-placed Carrick Rangers, who defeated Cliftonville 4-1.
Here’s what Kearney had to say after the match:
THOUGHTS ON THE MATCH?
"Very frustrating, just very disappointing.
"We're just, and I said it to the guys in there, it's a credit to Dungannon...I've been in that place before possibly in my time at Coleraine, where we're just opposites at the minute.
"We come up against a side today that in the last three, four windows have had very few ins and very few outs.
"A side like us have loads of players, loads of ins, loads of outs, loads of injuries, loads of stories, loads of people at different stages of trying to get fit or trying to whatever else, and a range of different bodies and everything, and we're just the polar opposite.
"And that's just where we're at at this point in time, and I knew coming in we have a lot of work to do.
"We've had signs, like the Coleraine game, we got a half against Cliftonville. I thought for big parts of today we dug in, and particularly in the first half restricted Dungannon to very little.
"If the truth be told, we probably have the two biggest chances of the game at 0-0.
"Sometimes it takes something like that to be the little catalyst. It probably would deflate them massively for the way that they had been playing and the way that the game had looked, that if we go ahead all of a sudden, it turns the game on its head.
"That’s where we're at at the minute, you're just looking for that lift and looking for that something that gives you that rise.
"As I say, that's where we're at, but we just have to keep grafting and keep working and keep trying to get people fit and keep trying to get boys back.”
WILL IT TAKE TIME TO GET YOUR IDEAS AND WAY OF PLAYING ACROSS?
"Sort of, but we just have so many games where we're Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, so you're literally doing a bit of recovery on a Thursday night and you're into games.
"Our pitch is like a dog's dinner, here (Stangmore Park) it's brilliant. You go back to our pitch on Tuesday night, it's different squads, different formations, it's just a range of different things.
"We just have far too many differing stories for different reasons. The most honest and best way I can describe that is Andy Scott.
"I thought Andy Scott was one of our better players today, but I had no choice to take him off after 60 minutes because Andy has been out for eight months.
"His first training session was the first night that I arrived at Ballymena. I need Andy to be available for the next Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday.
"Andy's probably three weeks into what you would call pre-season if all the players are arriving back at the end of June.
"I know that if I play Andy for 90 today, I can't use him on Tuesday night, or even at that I run the risk that he picks up a muscle injury, you get him injured again.
"So there's decisions like that in teams where you're trying to get people fit, you're trying to use people sporadically.
"We're not Saturday to Saturday, which then impacts on that as well, where you're making decisions, not necessarily football decisions, you're just making decisions based on what you have available.”
WILL YOU BE ACTIVE IN THE TRANSFER MARKET ACROSS REST OF THIS MONTH?
"We've utilised it a bit, but we nearly have too many players. I think we have seven or eight players who aren't here today.
"We're probably too big a number, ideally we need to lose a few before the window closes as well.
"But one thing that never changes when a window's open, I'm always looking for players, and you'll always try and improve, but it's got to be something that can improve you.
"I think with our team at the minute, it can't be a project, it can't be someone that hasn't played in six months, it can't be someone that's been injured.
"It nearly needs to be somebody from within the league who's played 25 games this season who can just come in and be an immediate fix because we just are littered with all the other type.
"That's my observation of coming in, and that's where I just feel it's very tough, because it's mid-season, and the most important thing is trying to win games of football, but it's trying to juggle all of these other bits and pieces as well that make it tricky.”