Carrick Rangers manager Stuart King says his side are “lucky to have” Paul Heatley after the Irish League legend netted a first-half brace in their 4-0 Co Antrim Shield victory over Bangor.

Heatley was originally due to retire this summer after spending 12 seasons with Crusaders, where he produced 352 goal contributions in 486 games to play a key role in the North Belfast club winning nine trophies, but reversed that decision last month to seal a return to Carrick.

The 37-year-old scored his first goal back with the Loughview Leisure Arena side in their narrow 3-2 Premiership defeat to Glentoran and has now followed it up with another two as King’s men progressed past the Championship outfit, who are expected to be prime contenders for this season’s second-tier title.

Carrick reached the Shield semi-finals last term before losing out to the Glens and will be looking to carry momentum into Saturday’s home league clash against Portadown, where they’ll seek to end a run of three consecutive Premiership defeats.

placeholder image — Carrick Rangers manager Stuart King. PIC: INPHO/Presseye/Stephen Hamilton

"He's been top drawer,” King told the club’s media channel on Heatley’s impact. “He has come into the club and sets high standards, is clinical, makes great runs and we're lucky to have him.

"I felt on Saturday, especially first-half, we played well but then in the second-half gave the ball away quite a bit. Tonight we passed it more than we've done in quite a while and that shows they're listening. I'm delighted we're into the next round and now we prepare for Saturday.

"I think we're playing okay...the results against the bigger clubs haven't been great but we've been competitive in all the games. We're missing a lot of players but if they have the same desire, attitude and commitment as they've had over the last couple of weeks there'll be no issues.

"We're playing well and haven't had the rub of the green...if we had everyone fit and available then we'll really kick on. There's a lot of games in the next month where the more bodies I have back, the more points we can hopefully get on the board."

Niall Currie will take Portadown to his former club this weekend on the back of consecutive draws against Loughgall and Linfield – Ryan Mayse’s 95th minute strike helping the County Armagh outfit earn a dramatic point in Friday’s clash with the Blues.

The Ports defeated Carrick on penalties in last season’s Irish Cup, but their last league win at Taylor’s Avenue came in April 2016, losing nine and drawing two of the previous 11 meetings since across both the Premiership and Championship.

"I went and watched them against Linfield on Friday night and thought they were very good,” added King. “Linfield were good for 20 minutes and then Portadown got into the game, were really competitive and they got a great point against one of the biggest clubs.

“We look after ourselves...I don't care who we're playing against, if we look after ourselves and everybody is available there's every opportunity to do well this season."