Tim McCann believes new signing Conor McMenamin will give Glentoran added options after making his return from Coleraine.

McMenamin wasn’t involved in Tuesday night’s ToalsBet Senior Shield 3-1 win over Linfield at the BetMcLean Oval.

Instead, it was striker Jordan Jenkins who grabbed the headlines by banging home two early goals against a youthful Blues side – manager David Healy opted to play most of his Under-20 squad.

A shock appeared to be a distinct possibility when Charlie Chapman shot the Blues back into the game after the restart, only for a late goal from substitute Carl Weatherup to help settle the home team’s nerves.

placeholder image — Northern Ireland international Conor McMenamin at The BetMcLean Oval after completing his return to Glentoran from Coleraine. (Photo by Glentoran FC)

McCann is looking forward to having McMenamin on board.

“He will give us massive options; he can go up top or play wide,” he said. “I assume all the paperwork has been carried out.

“When Conor was here the last time, he was different gravy. He’s played in the top league in Scotland. I think he’s a better player now than when he first went across.

“Fingers crossed we will see the best of him. I would imagine he would be available for the weekend, along with Jordan Stewart back form suspension.”

McCann insisted the Glens showed character to bounce back to beat the Blues after their home defeat by Crusaders on Saturday.

“Regardless of what side Linfield put out, we needed a reaction,” he said. “Good teams bounce back and that’s what we had to do – we didn’t want to lose two games on the bounce.

“That must be our mantra for the rest of the season; if we lose a game, we must bounce back.

“We came flying out of the traps and got a couple of early goals. Credit to Linfield, their lads put in a really good shift. There are some talented boys there and they caused us problems at times.

“I know JJ (Jenkins) will get the praise for his two goals, I thought James Douglas was outstanding. He has got into the team over the past few weeks, and he has stamped his authority on games.”

Blues boss Healy took a great deal of satisfaction from the performance of his young guns – even in defeat.

“We got off to a horrible start, but credit to the boys,” said Healy. “I thought we built our way back into the game, certainly for 15 or 20 minutes in the second half, we got on top of the game a bit.

“Dylan (Wells) was unfortunate to see his free kick hit the post before we got one back.

“We were disappointed with the third goal because we didn’t give ourselves a chance to put them under a little bit of pressure over the last 10 minutes or so.

“But they kept going, they emptied the tank. It was all positive for me. The players showed a great mentality and attitude,”