From pre-season knock
into a game for the sake of it if he’s not ready he won’t play.
“It’s a long season ahead of us and we have a lot of games. We are very pleased he’s here, and he will go through all the checks before he plays, but we are looking forward to seeing him in action.”
Winger Paul Heatley is excited about the prospect of linking up with speed king McGonigle.
“Jamie is a player of real talent and potential, he’s still young and he’ll settle into this club fantastically well, the players will make sure of that,” said Heatley.
“We are delighted he has joined us and we are looking forward to seeing him in action. But there is already an array of talent here and it’s a privilege to be involved with the squad. We’ll be pushing on and looking forward to the rest of the season.”
Baxter, whose side kicked off their campaign with a 3-0 victory over Carrick Rangers at the weekend, will likely freshen up his side for the Warrenpoint test as the Mournemen look to hit back following their 6-0 opening day loss at Larne.
“You’ve got to get your preparation right, taking into consideration the timing of the game,” he said. “The team will be well prepared and we’ll see who is fit.
“We will need to produce a very professional performance because the games are coming thick and fast, and the first week is important as you could be sitting with nine points or no points.
“It’s a great challenge to the team. It will be a hard fought game but hopefully we can repeat the performance we put in against Carrick.” LARNE hero Marty Donnelly was all skills in his side’s opening day 6-0 win over Warrenpoint at Inver Park, but he knows steel might be the order of the day to overcome derby rivals Carrick Rangers this evening.
While Tiernan Lynch’s side dominated the Championship last season, they found it tough going at Carrick, losing twice on the road to Niall Currie’s team.
Donnelly is relishing the challenge of turning those results around.
“Everything came off for us against Warrenpoint but going to Carrick will be a different match,” said Donnelly (right).
“It will be a tough game with the surroundings and all that. We have to go there and try and play our best football and show character as well.
“They defeated us twice last season so there is a bit of grudge there and it is a local derby. It’s a big game for the club but that’s what we want. We want to play in those games. “That’s why we worked so hard to get promoted. The boys have been buzzing to play in the Irish Premiership and it was brilliant that the town came out and supported us on Saturday and to get a good win was fantastic for the club.
“We’ve been well drilled by Tiernan and I think the performance and result showed that.
“It was obviously a good day for us, and we know there is quite a bit of attention on us at the moment, but we need to stay in our bubble and just focus on ourselves because this league is very tough.”
Having lost 3-0 away to Crusaders in their first fixture back in the big time, Currie’s Gers will be underdogs again but will feel they can be a different animal on home turf.
“Our home form will be crucial to us,” said Currie. “We had good wins over Larne last season and it’s a great match for our first home game of this campaign. There should be a good crowd and we’ll give it a real go.”