Irish League boss celebrates January signing 'we've never really been in a position to be able to get'
Dean Smith’s patience is paying off over Fra McCaffrey - with the January signing delivering immediate returns.
Loughgall boss Smith has been active in the New Year transfer window in a bid to bolster the top-flight’s bottom side across the second half of the Premiership campaign.
The Villagers travel to tackle Cliftonville this weekend bolstered by midweek Irish Cup success over Institute which featured McCaffrey netting his first goal for Loughgall on his second appearance.
"We've said many times...Fra is a player I've admired from afar, we've never really been in a position to be able to get him to the club,” said Smith following the 3-2 knockout boost which handed McCaffrey a first start following his debut off the bench last weekend in the league loss to Portadown. "Thankfully, he's come on board and you see what he brings...that wee bit of quality, that wee bit of experience at times we've maybe been missing.
"The cuteness of the run and finish.
"Fra's a real pro, you see how hard he works and he has that knack of scoring goals.
"We probably haven't scored enough goals from midfield, if being honest, so certainly Fra will come in and do that.
"We thought James Carroll came in and done really well...Robbie Mahon was really bright the first half.
"You take confidence from any win...we've won a game of football, I thought over the 90 minutes we probably deserved it.
"We'll take the confidence and positives out of the cup game and take them into Saturday."
Loughgall sit eight points behind Carrick Rangers having played two extra games.
"As much as our league form hasn't been what we want, we've been competitive in every game,” said Smith. "There's a lot of frustration because we know we can do better, we've shown it in glimpses but just not enough.
"The downside (from Tuesday’s Irish Cup win) is the walking wounded...Ben Murdock and Robbie Mahon came off at half-time with precautionary injuries.
"Tiernan Kelly's come off with what looks like a knee injury and Nathaniel Ferris has come off with what looks like a calf strain.
"So there's four we've lost probably for Saturday, which is our luck this season given what we've already out...it just adds to the list.”