Stephen Baxter hails rapid improvement of Carrick Rangers star and feels it's 'far too early' for Premiership predictions

Maciulaitis has been one of the standout performers in the early stages of Baxter’s Carrick tenure and showcased his undoubted quality against Ballymena United last weekend with a stunning strike from distance securing all three points at the Showgrounds.

That marked his first Premiership goal since an opening day triumph over Glenavon and he also provided an assist for Danny Gibson’s opener, producing an all-round performance which further helped pull Carrick clear of potential relegation threat.

The 25-year-old, who is in his second full season at the Loughview Leisure Arena after earning his move by impressing for Loughgall, has been a consistent presence, firstly under Stuart King and now Baxter, and the former Crusaders boss says he’s getting just rewards for hard work.

"Nedas has improved so dramatically and it has been outstanding to see some of the stuff he is working on behind the scenes, which is really coming to fruition right now,” he said. “That was typified by his goal on Saturday, I just thought it was a marvellous spin and shot.

"It's great to see the improvements and things working for players. Other players have stepped up in the same way and I think they're enjoying their football right now."

Maciulaitis will hope to further add to his tally when Carrick travel to Cliftonville on Saturday and says Baxter’s arrival has helped boost confidence after a poor start to the season.

"The quality of manager like Stephen coming in, confidence was very low so we almost fell into a slump of losing and it can become a habit,” said the former Coleraine striker. “He has come in and everything is positive from his end so all the players are taking to it very easily.

"He has instilled that confidence in the team again so there's no reason why we can't compete."

Carrick currently sit 10th in the Premiership table, six points clear of bottom side Loughgall and two better off than Glenavon, but only three teams have earned more points in their last five league games than the County Antrim outfit, giving Baxter’s men cause for optimism.

Flashing back to this time last year, they’re essentially in the same place in terms of points and they’ll be hoping to replicate similar form which helped them finish in a best-ever position of seventh.

While ninth-placed Larne will undoubtedly climb the table and an eight-point gap already developing to Coleraine in eighth, Baxter insists it’s “far too early” to talk about a potential three-way battle for relegation.

“When I arrived we had three points, and we've now got eighteen points, so we've picked up fifteen points in a short space of time,” he added. “We're at the halfway stage of this race, and there is so much to fight for.

“Ballymena lost their first four games and then went on a great run to find themselves right at the top of the table, then they fell back four or five places.

“The league is so difficult to predict right now, if you win three or four games on the spin you could be sitting up in fourth, fifth or sixth place.

“We don't look at the table at this stage in the season, there are so many games to play before you even get to the split when you start playing the teams around you.

“Points will be vital, definitely, as you go along the track. Every single point will be vital but we don't get into making predictions around the position you are in at this stage in the season.”