I will confess I know very little about the three teams - Ballymena, Crusaders and Derry City - we are due to play over the next few days, so these previews are likely to be relatively brief. Three games in four days should ensure every Saints player gets a run out and is likely to spell the end of our pre-season preparations, although we still have next Saturday free. Hopefully, we can come back from the tour with no injuries - anything else is a bonus.
An educated guess suggests the Saturday and Tuesday games will see our stronger side out, with the Monday one against Crusaders featuring fringe players. So, for tomorrow we can expect to see the likes of Paul Gallacher, Michael Higdon and Steven Thomson all start along with loan signing Paul McGowan, who will be using the tour as a chance to get to know his new team mates a wee bit better. There's no news yet of any trialists going, although I do seem to remember our last trip to Ireland included trialists Franco Miranda and Roy Dayan - although it was a bit earlier in the summer. Lee Mair is unlikely to take much part due to his injury problems.
Ballymena finished 10th out of 12 teams last season in a league that splits into two groups of six for the final few games. Sound familiar? Their former players include ex Saint Mark McWalter, who was even their top scorer during the 1990s - a feat he didn't come close to achieving during his time at Love Street. Sadly, I know little about their current squad so can't comment on them, although the name Gary Muir rings a bell as he was previously at Clyde. | 
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