Ruaidhri Higgins believes Ballymena United loan spell can help Brendan Barr's Brandywell development

Barr, who has appeared eight times for City this season, is highly rated at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium and joins the Irish League club until January 2022 in order to gain valuable first team experience.

The 20-year old midfielder came through the youth development teams at the Brandywell, earning rave reviews and attracting the attention of United boss David Jeffrey and Higgins believes working under one of the Irish League most decorated manager's can help's Barr development.

“Brendy is a pleasure to work with and he is the type of lad who gives his all both in training and in matches," explained Higgins, “He has a really good future in the game and is very keen to experience regular first team football.”

“We both feel that this is the right time for him to go out on loan and he can come back in January after gaining valuable experience and be ready for the 2022 season at Derry City. David Jeffrey and Ballymena FC have been excellent to deal with and I know full well they will take good care of the player.”

"We wish Brendy well on his time at Ballymena."

Commenting on his capture of Barr, the Ballymena boss said the willingness of Barr to accept a new challenge had impressed him.

"We are absolutely delighted to bring Brendan in on loan initially to the end of January," explained the Ballymena boss, "We're constantly looking out for those young players seeking more first team football, with Trai Hume the perfect example of that last season.

"We look to help the player in their development and in return we benefit also from the quality that they bring to the side. I have to say a big thanks to Ruaidhri and Derry City and how the agreement was reached, but what was most impressive was the willingness and desire from Brendan to seek and take the opportunity available to him here.

"He will be there this evening at Ballymoney and all things being well we will see him take to the pitch for his debut."