Ballinamallard United manager Mark Stafford admits he is "excited" to start his managerial career with Ballinamallard on Saturday.

The Mallards take on Ballyclare Comrades at Ferney Park in the first match of the 2024/25 NIFL Championship season, and the new boss feels his side have prepared well for the campaign and they are now ready to go. 

“I am excited about it,” admitted Stafford. “Obviously I’m a bit apprehensive about it all too, but hopefully the lads will go out and do themselves justice and we will be fine. We have prepared well, and we are all ready for the start of the season. We have had enough friendlies and enough training sessions, and we are ready for it.

"In all the games we have played the players have been quite good. They have worked hard, and they have shown they can play well against the better teams which has pleased me. It has been a decent pre-season.”

After a season where Ballinamallard struggled to convert their chances in front of goal, the new boss has been working hard to remedy that problem in preparation for kick-off.

“Goals were a big issue for us last year,” he conceded.

“We didn’t score enough and we need to try to resolve that this year. We definitely want to get more people into the box, both from wide areas and midfielders, and try to be a genuine threat up there and help our forward players. We have been working on that.”

The first test for Ballinamallard is Ballyclare Comrades.

The Mallards have a poor recent record against Comrades having won only two of their last nine clashes, and Stafford is expecting another tough examination in this season’s opener.

“Ballyclare have had our number for many years, and they seem to have got the better of us on a lot of occasions,” he conceded.

“They have a very experienced manager and coach in Stevie Small, and they have Chris Ramsey who is an experienced Premiership player as well.

"The thing about them is they have managed to keep their squad together for a number of years now and they have a system. They know what way they play, they are well coached and they know their roles.

"It is going to be a very difficult start for us but it’s really important that we get off to a good start. We have a tough month in August and we want to get a result at home because we have a few tough fixtures away from home after that.”

Ahead of the first league game Stafford has added another player to his squad, with 20-year-old midfielder Sean McAteer signing from Sligo Rovers.

“He is a good player, very talented,” said Stafford.

“He had a serious injury a while back and he has been struggling to find form down in Sligo, so we are going to give him an opportunity to get back to where he was before his injury. He plays anywhere in midfield and likes to get the ball on the half turn and play forward. He would be quite a technical player, and I am looking forward to seeing him.”

McAteer is the manager’s fifth signing of the summer, and Stafford admits he could still add one more.

“I would like to get another striker in if I could before the window closes to give Macca (McIlwaine) and Simon (Warrington) help up there at the top end of the pitch, but I’m not sure if that is going to happen.

"We have added Nathan Sherry, Tiernan Campbell, Joel Little, Darragh Stewart and Sean McAteer to the group and we are happy with what we have added.”

Ballinamallard defeated Kesh on Saturday in their final warm-up game of the summer, but the squad is still far from full strength with the season’s first game against Ballyclare just days away.

“We have had quite a few boys away on holiday and injured during preseason, and we didn’t even fill out the bench on Saturday, so we are probably going to need everybody in the squad this year,” explained the manager.

“Simon (Warrington) is still recovering from his foot operation, Callum Moorehead is still coming back from a knee injury, but he got some minutes on Saturday and looked decent so it will be interesting to see how he responds in training.

"We have Darragh Stewart away on holidays, and Aaron Smyton and Dylan Boyle are both abroad as well. Nathan Sherry is suspended for the start of the season, and Tiernan Campbell is probably going to miss out too with a wee ankle problem. There are quite a few unavailable at the weekend but Alex Holder will be back again as an option for us.”

Stafford is also keen for the home support to play their part this season, as he embarks on his debut season in management.

“We are going to need everybody out in their numbers to help us,” he said.

“It is going to be a tough season for us, and we are going to need people to get behind us and be patient with us. Hopefully they will see a team that will be going out to work hard, and a team that wants to go out and play decent football and try to win some games."