David Jeffrey has revealed how Brendan Barr’s quality - and persistence - helped the midfielder nail down a regular place in Ballymena United’s starting line-up.
Barr, who joined the Sky Blues on loan from Derry City in the summer, had to settle for a place on the replacement’s bench in the early weeks of the season.
Nine of Barr’s first 10 appearances were as a substitute, but the impish playmaker has started the Braid club’s last eight games in all competitions.
And Jeffrey says the Donegal native’s hunger for regular game time was a telling factor in his emergence as a key figure in Ballymena’s engine room.
Ahead of Monday's derby with Coleraine at the Warden Street Showgrounds, he said: “When Brendan came to us, we knew he was a young man with an incredibly exciting talent who wasn’t getting as much first team football as he’d like at Derry City.
“At the beginning it was difficult for him to break into the side but that’s natural because he’s still only 19 or 20 years of age.
“I don’t know how many meetings we had or how many times he came in and asked ‘what’s happening, when am I going to get to play?’
“I told him that he would get his opportunity but that I couldn’t take it for him. I told him ‘you’ll have to take it yourself’.
“I started him in a County Antrim Shield tie against Larne a couple of months back and he was fabulous and has really kicked on from there.”
Barr’s initial loan spell on the Braid was set to expire in January, but the agreement, which has been mutually beneficial to both parties, was recently extended until the summer.
“The middle of the park was somewhere we wanted to strengthen in the January window, so keeping Brendan is really pleasing,” said Jeffrey.
“I spoke to (Derry City manager) Ruaidhri Higgins who said ‘yeah’ and I then spoke to Brendan who was happy to stay.”
Ballymena, who lie seventh in the Danske Bank Premiership, are five points below the Bannsiders who are looking to bounce back from a run of five league games without a win.
Coleraine's latest setback was a 2-0 home loss to Coleraine five days ago, while Ballymena suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to leaders Linfield in their last outing last Tuesday.
