McAree wants Swifts to come out fighting

Last season the Swifts finished seventh in the league standings and made it to the semi-final of the Irish Cup before losing to treble winners Linfield.

The Swifts are known for playing a brand of attractive passing football and year on year they show their worth against the best in the division.

And this year’s task has not been made any easier with the loss of goal machine Andrew Mitchell to Glenavon.

His goals were a major part of the Swifts’ success last season - but the Swifts have a history of unearthing hidden gems and bringing through players from their youth structure.

McAree knows a good start to the season is needed to get his side up and running and he was pleased to get Grant Hutchinson, Nathaniel Ferris, Liam Hughes, Liam McMenamin and Ryan Mayse on board - while James Glackin, Andrew Burns and Jamie Douglas have all left the club,

And Head Coach McAree is happy with his new signings;

“I am delighted to sign both Nathaniel and Grant.

“Nathaniel is a young lad, he’s only 18 years of age and doesn’t turn 19 until the end of the year.

“He has scored a lot of goals for us in pre season and he shows very good attributes.

“He is very good inside the box but there a lot of improvement to be made to his game but Nathaniel understands that and he’s prepared to work hard for himself.

“He’s one that can offer a lot to us over the course of the season.

“Grant Hutchinson has been here before obviously. We’ve signed him a few times even though he’s never actually left us for any other club!

“He’s a fabulous footballer and in my opinion he’s one of the best midfielders in the county.

“Grant is someone I have a lot of faith in and I think will be a super signing for the club and I hope he will be here for a long time to come.”

And McAree also brought in goalkeeper Liam Hughes over the summer.

“I think its a fantastic achievement for us to have attracted Liam Hughes to the Club. He is one of, if not, the best U18 goalkeepers in Northern Ireland, and he is a couple of years younger than that.

“He has already achieved a premiership appearance with Portadown last season and he comes to us with some great recommendations.

“We have watched him on many occasions and are delighted as a club to have a prospect like Liam joining us at Dungannon .”