COLIN MILLAR

By

BALLYCLARE boss Clifford Adams is confident a strong summer of recruitment ensures his side are title contenders this season.

A host of summer arrivals have arrived at Dixon Park including Larne duo Chrissy Rodgers and Paul Maguire, while Mark Kelly, Kyle Mackie, CJ Mcquillan, Jordan Dunlop and Stewart Nixon are among the other recruits at the Comrades.

“The concern from last season was that we did not have a deep enough squad beyond our starting 11,” stated Adams (inset).

“We needed to address that and feel we have – for the first games of the season we were missing a few players including Michael O’hanlon and Stewart Nixon, but due to the numbers here we can deal with that.

“I have 23 firstteam players here and a lot of people might think that’s too many as we couldn’t keep them all happy – but we don’t want players to be in a comfort zone.

“Everybody needs to be kept on their toes and know that if they aren’t meeting the standards we know they’re capable of, somebody else can step in.

“For the first game of the season we had seven players unavailable yet still had a strong side and managed to defeat Loughgall, and that’s the difference from last season.

“We know we can’t continue to compete at the top end of the league if we’ve a small squad and if that means players not knowing they’re playing every week, that’s the price we’ll have to pay.”

Last season saw the East Antrim side challenge at the top of the Championship standings throughout the campaign before eventually falling to a play-off defeat to Institute.

“We’ve a lot of new players in the squad this season and for a lot of people they’ll be an unknown quantity as they came through intermediate football,” Adams continued.

“Mark Kelly was a striker in Ballymena’s first team and then moved over to Liverpool but due to that went off the radar a little bit.

“He’s a top-flight level striker but due to our relationship I was able to land him ahead of teams in the top flight as well as our own league and is a big addition.”

Two notable departures from Dixon Park this summer were Chris Trussell and Corey Mcmullan, who joined Carrick Rangers and Glentoran respectively.

“We never wanted to stand in anyone’s way of playing in the top flight,” said the Ballyclare boss.

“Obviously our ambition is to be at that level ourselves as soon as possible but Corey and Chris are both tremendous players and in terms of their own careers, the moves made sense.

“Both players were absolutely fantastic at this level and will go on to have success at their new clubs.”

So what are the club’s ambitions for the campaign ahead?

“Our aim is simple – to finish higher than we did last season,” Adams replied. “I believe we’ve a stronger,