COLIN MILLAR IT COULD BE A CHRIS MISS FOR WINGER

By Middleton signs on at Comrades but knows it could be the New Year before he gets in

NEW Ballyclare signing Chris Middleton acknowledges he faces a battle to break into the side following his switch from H&W Welders.

The 23-year-old will become available for selection for the Comrades in January after leaving the East Belfast side, whom he initially joined in 2012.

His arrival at Dixon Park was confirmed alongside the return of Eoin Kane (right) from Ballymena United, with Michael O’hanlon departing the East Antrim side.

“I’m going to have to work really hard to push my way into the team,” the winger explained.

“They are top of the league for a reason and there’s a great squad of players here and there is fierce competition for places across the pitch.

“It’s important for every player to be on their toes and ensure they don’t let their standards drop and at this club if you aren’t on your game then you won’t be in the team.

“As a player you want that competition as it drives you on both in training and during matches, to

keep your game. That’sanother big motivation for players because it’s great to be playing in front of crowds and hopefully I can do them justice.” Middleton enjoyed a spell of success at the Welders across six seasons with the club, including a Steel and Sons Cup triumph in 2016, when Gary Smyth’s side finished runners-up in the Championship.

“I loved every minute of my time with the Welders and the club have an exciting future ahead of them, but for me this felt like the right time to move on,” Middleton continued.

“I’ve been training with Ballyclare for the past few weeks after being invited by Clifford [Adams, manager of the Comrades] and I’ve really enjoyed the sessions and everybody has been brilliant.

“There was no pressure at all for me to sign or anything like that and things just happened naturally, it was all about timing. “Clifford is a great communicator and he made me feel right at home without rushing me into a decision but the entire vibe around the club felt right. “My time at the Welders was five-and-a-half years and the club were great for me and I made a lot of friends, but sometimes you know when it’s right to move on and this was it.

“It’s frustrating not being able to play until January but it gives me time to settle into the club and build up more of an understanding with everyone.”

Ballyclare are in a strong position for their first return to the top flight in 23 seasons as they lead the Championship standings by six points, although second-placed Institute have three games in hand.

“Every footballer wants to play at the highest level and the chance of being in the top flight is a big incentive for me,” added Middleton.

“All the players at the club are really pushing to reach that level, you can see that in the intensity of the training sessions and how motivated they all are to keep pushing on.

“They were unlucky to lose to Dungannon [in the League Cup] just before I started training with them and they showed in that game they would not be out of place at that level.

“Nobody is getting carried away with the current league position because there’s still another five months of the season to go and plenty of twists and turns.

“We need to focus on accumulating as many points as possible especially with the league split coming up soon, as that’s when the going will really get tough.

“That run of ten games after the split will be against the top sides in the league every week so we need to make sure we are ready for that and aim to continue the run of results.”

Next up for the Comrades is a top-of-the-table clash against Institute on Saturday, with a 2pm kick-off at Wilton Park.