Ballymena United defender Stephen O’Donnell will be leaving handshakes with old acquaintances until strictly after the final whistle on St Stephen’s Day, when he comes face-to-face with his previous club Coleraine in an intriguing festive derby in the Sports Direct Premiership.
The 32-year-old spent seven years with the Bannsiders until he made the surprise move last summer to bitter rivals United, but he has no mixed feelings as to where his loyalties lie this week.
“It will be nice to see some familiar faces,” the former Coleraine captain said.
“But there will be plenty of time for that once the game is done. I am 100 per cent focussed on going to Coleraine and getting all three points for Ballymena.
“Once you cross the whitewash and that whistle goes it is very much game time, and friendships count for little, everyone is in the same boat.”
Saturday’s 3-2 attritional win over Loughgall was a welcome return to form for the Sky Blues, given they had only collected a solitary victory in their previous five games. The win also moved Jim Ervin’s men back into the top six in the table, something that O’Donnell sees as being where the side belong.
“I have been really impressed by the quality of the team and the atmosphere around the club as a whole since arriving,” he said.
“There is a great blend of youth and experience in the side and I think the mindset has been changed after the 11th placed finish last year with the manager bringing in players who are used to competing in the top six at the end of the year and take that as the norm.
“We were really impressed to getting back to winning ways at the weekend and hopefully we can kick on from there come Thursday.
“It wasn’t pretty at times, but we showed we can fight it out when we need to,” he explained.
So, how does O’Donnell treat the week’s preparation for such a big derby game against a Coleraine side languishing in eighth spot?
“The key is don’t change the preparation,” the Derry native said.
“We will try to block out the emotional side of things and train and prepare just as we do for any other game.
“We know Coleraine are a good side, who have maybe struggled a bit for consistency like us and a lot will depend on the availability of their strikers Matthew Shevlin and Jamie McGonigle.
“They are without doubt two of the best finishers in the league and if they are both playing it will of course make life difficult for us.
“But we trust in ourselves and we know if we go out there and play to the best of our ability we can come away with the three points.”
Having lost both ties against Dean Shiels’ side this season, O’Donnell knows that United fans will be demanding something from this derby, and he explains how preparation is key for the modern footballer, particularly when Christmas dinner is on the menu the day before the game.
“I suppose I am well used to Boxing Day games now,” he acknowledged.
“For me I have my own preparation, and although I would love to go mad and feast on some turkey and ham with all the trimmings that is just not possible.
“You have to have no regrets during the Boxing Day game and if that was due to over-eating the day before I would be full of guilt, so I would rather get a win and then enjoy a big meal afterwards.”
