'He's going to become a very, very good player' - Stephen Baxter praises two Carrick Rangers stars at different ends of Irish League careers and hints at January arrivals
Two players at different ends of their Irish League careers received special praise from Carrick Rangers manager Stephen Baxter after his current side defeated former one Crusaders 3-0 at Taylors Avenue.
Having spent almost two decades in charge at Seaview, winning three Premiership titles and four Irish Cup crowns during that time, Baxter was in the unfamiliar position of coming up against the North Belfast outfit and it was another Crues legend that sealed victory as Paul Heatley’s brace helped Carrick leapfrog Glenavon into 10th.
While 37-year-old Heatley celebrated scoring his 250th Irish League goal across competitions – 214 of which came for Saturday’s opposition – 20-year-old Josh Andrews was making a first Premiership start of the season, filling in for Kurtis Forsythe at right-back.
Andrews, who spent the second half of last season on-loan with Championship outfit Ards, was named the club’s ‘Player of the Match’ after an assured performance and Baxter is confident there’s much more to come.
"Not only did he fill in, but he picked up the man of the match award,” he told the club’s media channel. “Josh Andrews is very talented and is going to become a very, very good player.
"We'd no hesitation in putting him in there. He has nice balance in his feet, has pace around him and he can play, so I had no worries about playing him at right-back - it's the easiest position to play on the football pitch.
"I was pleased. He held his shape nicely, grew into the game and I thought he was really brilliant."
Heatley had initially signalled his intention to retire at the end of last season after helping Crusaders secure European qualification, but reversed that decision to rejoin Carrick and has now scored five league goals in 15 appearances this term.
"This man defies all the odds with his age,” added Baxter. “He's talented, a quality player, scores goals, has pace - he's just marvellous.
"We needed all of that. Joe (Crowe), Luke (McCullough) and BBR (Ben Buchanan-Rolleston) were superb and it gives you a platform to build on.
"We had to put Cush (David Cushley), Kyle (Cherry) and Paul in midfield after losing Seanan Clucas, so we had to revise and work things out to make sure we had the balance right and I felt our quality all over the pitch was exceptional."
Baxter has enjoyed a terrific start to his Carrick tenure, losing only one of his opening six matches – a 3-1 defeat to current leaders Linfield – and Saturday’s success moves them four points clear of bottom side Loughgall.
With the January transfer window approaching, Baxter admits he’s identifying targets that could help drag the ‘Gers away from any potential relegation threat.
"Our squad depth is very light,” he said. “We've two or three young players that haven't made their mark in the U20s yet and that is going to be difficult until we can bring some reinforcements in.
"I'd to ask Steven Gordon to come in and help us because we lost Seanan Clucas and Kurtis Forsythe. We're working behind the scenes to find players as the window approaches.
"We have to grow the squad because it's a long season ahead and all these games are really difficult. When you lose people to suspension and injury, it can be hard pushing the same players week in, week out.
"We've lots to do. We won't dwell on three points here today. For me, it's a reward for how well the team have done in the last couple of weeks that I felt that result was coming.
"Never dwell too much on one performance or feel you've achieved something - we've three vital points in our position and we have to find another three and another three to get out of the mess we're in.”