Niall McGinn: Conor McMenamin has what it takes to succeed in Scottish Premiership with St Mirren

McMenamin made the move to Scotland from east Belfast earlier this month after starring in the Irish League, racking up 42 goals and 25 assists in 109 appearances at The Oval following his arrival from Cliftonville in January 2021.

The 27-year-old and McGinn were part of an attack that helped Glentoran secure European football for this season and Warren Feeney’s side are looking to seal Europa Conference League progression on Thursday night when they welcome Gzira United for their second-leg.

McGinn, who joined Glentoran from Dundee in January, scored eight times in 19 league games while McMenamin contributed 11 to earn a deserved move across the water.

Having played over 300 times in the Scottish Premiership during spells with Celtic, Aberdeen and Dundee while netting 72 goals, McGinn knows what it takes to perform in the top-flight and he’s confident his fellow Northern Ireland international can hit the ground running in Paisley.

"Definitely (he will do well),” he said. “Conor is a great lad with plenty of ability.

"I have full faith in him that he will go over there and do really well. He will step into it and is at a stage now where he probably needed that challenge of going across to play in a very tough Scottish league.

"I believe he will relish it and enjoy it. I can see him doing very well.

"We had a good partnership with Conor off the right and me off the left and then interchanging that.

"Being involved with Northern Ireland too I could always see he had ability so for him to prolong his international career he probably needed that next step to enhance more opportunities for him.

"He's definitely good enough and it's down to him now to knuckle down, enjoy his football and do as well as he can possibly can.”

The Glens moved quickly to sign Daire O’Connor as McMenamin’s successor on the right-wing and the former Cliftonville star has wasted no time in showing what he can offer, scoring and providing an assist on competitive debut during last week’s 2-2 draw in Malta.

With the likes of McGinn, Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe, Jay Donnelly, Rory Donnelly and Danny Purkis already at the club, O’Connor adds yet another threat to Feeney’s side.

"He's a lad who is full of energy, wants to run in behind, take players on and create chances,” said McGinn. “As a wide player that's what you want to do - provide opportunities for your target men and chip in with a few goals too.

"We're putting together a great squad with plenty of ability but we're only one game into the season - we always want to keep improving and that's what the manager is bringing across to us as well."