Stephen Baxter belief ex-Glentoran star can 'get career back on track' at Carrick Rangers

During the 2023/24 season, O’Connor lit up the Irish League at Glentoran, scoring 15 goals and providing 14 assists across all competitions – form which earned the rapid winger a return to Scotland with Hamilton Academical.

His time in the Scottish Championship didn’t work out, but O’Connor helped East Kilbride win three trophies and secure promotion to Scotland's Professional Football League during a successful loan.

O’Connor returned to the Premiership last year as a statement signing by Ballymena United and has been on the move again this summer.

The 29-year-old has arrived at Taylors Avenue alongside Jordan Forsythe, who previously played under Baxter at Crusaders, and the Carrick chief is backing the pair to make an impact.

“Daire has that X-factor, he's got that pace and quality off the side and lights it up,” said Baxter. “He struggled for a bit of game time last year at Ballymena and a bit of fitness, so he needs to rebuild that, reinvent himself a little bit and get his career back on track.

"(Jordan is) a Rolls Royce of a footballer. He's just great to watch, a great footballer.

"He has the ability to score goals, can play in three or four different positions for you, just a great footballer.”

Aged 39, Heatley enjoyed his best league goalscoring campaign since 2018/19 last term, netting 12 times in 30 matches as Carrick registered a new record points tally, and Baxter is thrilled to have him sticking around.

"(It took) a lot of convincing, an awful lot!” added Baxter. “But it's great that he decided to stay.

"He's just an immense talent, a generational talent. He's a superb, superb person in the dressing room and a superb player off the park as well as on it.

"Just an amazing guy and we're delighted that he chose to stay for another year.”

Alongside finishing seventh last term, Carrick ended their 33-year wait for senior silverware success after beating Cliftonville on penalties in the Senior Shield decider.

Baxter is preparing for his second full season in charge of Carrick and wants to continue building on the club’s progress.

"When they brought me in mid-October (2024), it was on the back of a 10-game losing run and we needed to survive that season really,” he said. “Then last season was a bit of a rebuild and making sure that we brought some better players in that could find their way around the pitch.

"That cemented well in the second half of the season, we were brilliant in the second half of the season, and winning a trophy was a lovely thing after 33 years.

"Now this year I feel we can cement that similar quality and try and find that mid-table position again.

"There will be a lot of teams competing in there, a lot of these teams have all improved – Ballymena, Portadown, they’re all improving.

"It's going to be tough and we know that, we're going to have to work really, really hard to try and stay with it all.

"What we're looking to do is try and build on last season, try and kick on from where we were.”