Balance is key for Lee Feeney as high-flying Bangor move into top four

A sixth win of the season moved the Seasiders into the top four

Lee Feeney highlighted the importance of balance as Bangor continued their impressive start to life back in the Premiership.

Last season’s Championship winners moved up to fourth in the table following the 2-1 win over Crusaders, their sixth in the opening 11 games.

The Seasiders are currently outperforming other more established sides and Feeney believes they are striking the right balance in terms of squad demands.

“We were thinking about coming in the extra night because we hear other clubs do it,” he said. “We sort of put trust in them because we couldn’t afford to be bringing them in.

“They’re not on so-called big money and I don’t want to be too intense with them. So you’re giving them that family time at home and you’re maybe saying, ‘go for a 30-minute run now and keep ticking over’.

“Straight after this game I’ll put a message in the chat, for the boys to go and get their recovery done by tomorrow and those who didn’t, get minutes under the belt, to go and do extra workouts.

“We always keep switched on but I don’t want to be too intense with them and bringing them in Monday, Tuesday, Thursday because we are quite intense when they’re in.

“We just want to make a promise to people at this club and supporters that we compete every game we play in. We may not have the quality that other players or squads have, but we make-up for that with heart and desire.

“We have brought in a bit of experience compared to what we had last year. There’s a lot of our players there who have never really played Premiership football before.

“So it was a new challenge for them, but we’re well aware that with these type of players, that they could run out of steam. Have they got the capacity to do this for 30-plus games because they’re just new into the league?

“Look at Linfield, they have the players, and Glentoran, and Larne, and Coleraine, they have players that have done it week in, week out for years and years of their career.

“So it’s going to be challenging for us to maintain this energy, desire and mentality for the future

“We can’t get carried away given how ruthless this league is and how ruthless football is.

“We try and keep our feet on the ground, we try and stay humble because we’re well aware of how it can change and how you can feel after games.”