Ballinamallard United manager Tommy Canning is "bewildered" that his side have only taken one point from their last four games.

Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Dundela marked the first time in Cannings’ reign that the Mallards have failed to win for four consecutive matches, but the manager feels the performances against Dundela, Bangor, Dergview and Portadown have deserved a lot more.

“I came away from it a wee bit bewildered at how we are in the situation we are in, in terms of having only one point from four games in which we were actually decent,” said the manager.

“They are fine margins. You could be coming out of that run of games with nine or 10 points, but we have come away with one point.

"It is a wee bit bewildering because our play was very good again on Saturday. We are creating chances, but we are in a situation at the minute that we can’t seem to put the ball in the net. If you look at it the other way around, there is not much to fix in the group. We just need to add goals to that group somehow. I think we play as well as anybody, we just don’t have the firepower at the minute.”

Saturday saw the Mallards dominate against the league leaders for long spells, but they have now only scored two goals in their last six games as their goal drought continued.

Despite drawing another blank in front of goal, Canning was happy with the performance of his players.

“It is really difficult to be critical of the players, or to be disappointed in them or angry,” he said.

“They put in a performance on a difficult day on a difficult pitch against a team that are league leaders. I was more than happy with their application and commitment.

"We just can’t seem to get the rub of the green. Even with 10 men, we took the game to them and we were still creating opportunities. There is not a player on the pitch you could point the finger at and say they had a poor game.

"We gave Ultan O’Grady his full senior debut and he was outstanding. He was calm and composed after getting booked early. He managed himself really well and showed some of his maturity, and that was a big positive to come out of Saturday.”

Next up for the Mallards is the visit of in-form Annagh United to Ferney Park.

The Portadown-based side has not lost a league game in 2024, with a run of seven wins and two draws lifting them to fifth in the league table, but Canning is backing his side to bring their unbeaten run to an end.

“We need to get a win on the board. It has been too long now and that is the plan on Saturday. Annagh are on an incredible run of form and they have no problem scoring goals. They have scored 15 in their last five games, so you can see what kind of game it is going to be on Saturday, but we look forward to it. If we can get things to click in the final third we will be fine.”

Striker Josh McIlwaine will miss the game after his sending-off against Dundela, and the attacking line will also be missing Simon Warrington who is unavailable and Nick Palmer who remains sidelined with a shoulder injury.

Peter Maguire has not recovered from his injury and Nick Collen is unlikely to be risked after recently returning to training after a long lay-off.

Gary Armstrong faces a late fitness test, but Aaron Harkin is expected to be available after missing out on Saturday.