'We knew we would hit a sticky patch' - Ervin

Ballymena manager Jim Ervin was not on the bench for his side's past two games after being sent-off against Glenavon on 30 December

Ballymena United manager Jim Ervin has said that he always knew his team would "hit a sticky patch" in the season after initially challenging in the upper echelons of the Irish Premiership table.

Following four defeats in a row at the start of the campaign, the Sky Blues hit form in the period from late August to mid-October with a run of 11 successive wins in all competitions, including eight in the league, to raise expectations among supporters.

The team's form since then has been indifferent and the Braidmen are currently on a sequence of six consecutive home defeats in the top flight, scoring just two goals in those fixtures.

In a congested Premiership table, they sit in sixth place ahead of Saturday's match against Glentoran at the Showgrounds.

"We knew there was going to be a time in the league campaign when we were going to be under severe pressure – we were going to hit a real sticky patch and we were going to struggle," said Ervin.

"Regardless of the number of signings you bring in you don't go from being in a relegation scrap one season to competing at the top end of the table the next. Very rarely does that happen in football.

"We were never silly enough to think that we would sustain a constant threat at the top. Everyone in the league, maybe bar Linfield, has been inconsistent so it's very tight."

Players 'as honest as the day's long'

The Ballymena boss commended his players for their approach but added that individual errors and a failure to convert chances were hurting his side.

The Braidmen lost 2-1 at home to Championship side Ards in the fifth round of the Irish Cup and three days later crashed out 2-0 away to Glentoran in the quarter-finals of the BetMcLean Cup.

"It's fine margins. In this league you can't make mistakes because you'll get punished and at the other end of the pitch we weren't getting the rub of the green, missing chances that earlier in the season we were scoring.

"If we can cut out the basic errors defensively and start keeping clean sheets and we are able to take our chances at the other end of the pitch then it breeds confidence.

"The group of players we have are as honest as the day's long and they give me absolutely everything. I can never question their attitude, application or desire but sometimes in football your form dips."

Ervin, who hopes to add two more players to his squad during the January transfer window, says he has the senior players in the dressing room who can help turn things round.

"The guys who have made mistakes or the ones that haven't performed, they hold their hands up. Before I even speak to them they have already told me what they think has gone wrong.

"They hold their hands up straight away as regards what they can improve on."

"We have experienced players in the changing room and I know they'll turn it round and help the younger players along. Once it turns we'll kick on again, there's no two way about it."

'The pitch is what it is'

The generally poor condition of the pitch at the Warden Street venue has become a regular subject of discussion but Ervin refuses to blame that for his side's recent run of disappointing results at their home ground.

"The pitch is what it is. I'm not going to say the pitch is hampering us. There are two teams who have to play on it, regardless of who you are playing. So as bad as we feel the pitch is for us, it's as bad for the opposition.

"You've just got to deal with it and it's who deals with it best."