Wakehurst dreaming of lucrative League Cup draw

The Ballymena men received a bye into today’s (Thursday) second round of the Irn Bru League Cup – almost certainly guaranteeing them a fixture against a seeded Carling Premiership team.

“Realistically, we are not going to win the competition, so we would be looking for a good draw financially against a big club or else looking to draw a Championship club that we might have a chance of beating and progressing a round further in the competition,” Wakehurst boss Ian Gregg told Times Sport.

“It would be great to draw Linfield, Glentoran or Ballymena United at our place – it would make for a great occasion.”

Before then, however, Gregg will be insisting his players focus on the quest for Championship points, with ‘Husrt still searching for their first win after three games, albeit against title favourites Knockbreda and the two sides relegated from the division above, Ballyclare Comrades and Ballymoney United.

“It’s been a bit of a stuttering start to the season for us. We played well against Knockbreda but we conceded an injury time penalty to let them draw with us.

“Against Ballyclare, we only played for part of the game but at 2-2, we shouldn’t have conceded a third. Ballymoney was probably our worst performance and we were lucky to get a draw, this time a late goal went in our favour.

“We should be probably sitting on five points but instead we have two. We consider ourselves to be contenders – there’s no point having an inferiority complex.”

Gregg is critical of the timing of a new IFA ruling last week which will see an August 31 transfer deadline imposed, similar to that for senior clubs, but insists he didn’t have any plans to add to his squad in any event.

“The boys we have signed have settled in well. Jordan Kenny has chipped in with a couple of goals and to my mind, it’s a wonder how he has been overlooked by senior clubs. Lee McCaughern has also looked good, although he has had a couple of minr injuries to contend with.

“We also hope to have Ciaran Lemon and Stephen Mellon back from injuries for this Saturday’s home game with Lurgan Celtic but Conor Gregg might be out another couple of weeks with a hamstring injury,” added Gregg.