Ard to see cup tie going ahead

Barring a remarkable upsurge in temperatures over the coming days, United's JJB Sports Irish Cup fifth round tie at home to Ards on Saturday (3pm) is likely to meet the same fate as the Sky Blues' previous four scheduled league matches.

The Showgrounds pitch was still covered by a blanket of snow at the start of the week, while underneath, the playing surface remains frozen and manager Walker is already making contingency plans.

"I hope the weather improves and we can play the match but I've already been making enquiries about possible venues at which to train on Saturday if the match is off.

"The severity of the weather is just something he have to accept and adapt to accordingly – where I live was like a scene from Narnia."

Walker, who has never won the Irish Cup as either a player or manager, is relishing another tilt at landing the Blue Riband knockout trophy – Ballymena's last major piece of silverware in 1989.

"When you get round Irish Cup time, you know how many competitions you are still involved in.

"For the majority of clubs in this league, the Irish Cup is their only realistic chance of winning something or even progressing to a final.

"The further you go in the competition, the more money you earn so, given the financial situation facing all clubs, the competition is as big, if not bigger, than other years from a financial point of view.

"But footballers and football managers should not be deflected from the task in hand and it's up to us to do our job of trying to progress to the next level of the competition.

"Our preparations for this game began from the day I had Ards watched in the north Down derby with Bangor before Christmas and, boy, am I glad I did because, like ourselves, they haven't played since that day!

"We also had them watched in the first half of the season, as we do with the top teams in the Championship, as we keep an eye for players who could potentially make the step up."

Ballymena are still without the suspended trio of Andy Smith, Aidan Watson and Chris Ramsey, while Ards will be unable to field winger Mark Picking, who remains on loan at the club from Ballymena.