Foyle Cup kids can be inspiration - Ferguson

The Sky Blue youngsters exceeded all expectations by reaching the final of the prestigious youth competition in the north west, narrowly losing to Scottish Premier League side Hibernian in the final.

With several members of that squad already knocking on the door of Ferguson’s first team, the Showgrounds boss believes the club has plenty to look forward to.

“The boys did fantastically well at the Foyle club and it’s a boost for the whole club,” Ferguson told Times Sport.

“I saw pretty quickly after taking over as manager just how talented a panel of youngsters there are at the club and I’ve also shown that I’m not scared to use them.

“Jamie Davidson, Neil Lowry, Corey Price and David Reid have all played in the first team and there are a number of others on the fringes of the first team.

“I also asked a number of young players to join the first team for pre-season training, not only to help them get a good pre-season behind them but also to have a closer look at some of them.”

Ferguson continues to run the rule over potential new recruits with Ballymoney United centre-back Stuart McMullan and Northern Ireland Milk Cup striker Michael McClellan, a free agent after being released by Preston North End, each playing in matches last week, as United drew 1-1 at Amateur League Albert Foundry before thrashing another Amateur League side, Ballywalter 7-0 on Saturday.

“We’ll get another look at Stuart in our match at Larne tonight (Tuesday) and I’ve also invited Michael to join up with us for our match against Dundalk on Saturday, after he has finished his Milk Cup duties.”

That match against Dundalk forms part of the club’s Open Day attractions, with the event running from 12 noon up until the match at 3pm.

Admission to the event is FREE up until 2pm, after which admission to the match will be £5 for adults and £3 concessions. Season tickets are valid.

Meanwhile, Ferguson has pruned his squad after releasing midfielder Conor Downey from the remaining year of his contract by mutual consent.

“With Conor’s work commitments, he isn’t able to make it to training as much as we would like.

“There’s been no fall-out and it’s not a question of his ability, it’s just that we have a training schedule for the players that we are trying to stick to.”

The departure of Downey has freed up more funds in Ferguson’s player wage budget, sparking fresh hope of retaining Alan Davidson, the midfielder who made such a big impression in his short-term spell at the Showgrounds at the end of last season.

Davidson has been training with Ballymena as he awaits news of a potential cross-channel trial and played a half in Saturday’s game at Ballywalter.

“Alan has people working on his behalf to try to get him an opportunity in England and he is training with us to keep himself ticking over but if that opportunity doesn’t arise for him, maybe we would be in a position to keep him,” added Ferguson.