James Teelan embracing the master-apprentice model with Paul Heatley as Crusaders new boy shares his excitement for European debut

The summer recruit from Newry City wasted no time in getting amongst the goals as he came off the bench to score in the Charity Shield final success against Larne at Inver Park.

Jarlath O’Rourke’s header had given the Crues a second-half lead before Teelan finished off a swift counter attack as Stephen Baxter’s side retained the Shield.

A lot of comparisons have been made between Teelan and Heatley as the former aims to have the same impact in a Crusaders shirt as the latter.

"It's great and I'm loving it at Crusaders," said Teelan.

"The professionalism of it all, the players that I'm playing with and learning off the likes of Paul Heatley and Ross Clarke.

"It's great to watch them guys train and see the hunger they have even though they've won practically everything.

"They come in every day and give 100%, so it's great learning from those guys.

"Coming into games like this, and I know they're basically friendlies, you want to set the tone coming in.

"If you play well here it doesn't mean you automatically play well in the league but it's a confidence booster as well.

"This is a hard place to come, especially with how Larne plays football, but I thought we dealt well with that.

"We definitely have one of the strongest squads in the league, we have healthy competition for places and a good mix of experienced and young players.

"As soon as I came on, I just wanted to make something happen as we were already winning 1-0.

"It was all about keeping our shape but once Ross Clarke got on the wing, I knew the quality he has and he put a lovely ball in for me and I couldn't miss.

"I just saw Ross and those runs are hard because you don't want to be offside and I have been offside a few times!

"However, I'm learning and you have to hold your run and thankfully I did.

The 20-year-old will hope to make his European bow in the upcoming Europa Conference League qualifying tie against Finnish side FK Haka.

With the Irish Cup holders away from home in the first leg, livewire Teelan knows the importance of keeping the tie alive for the return fixture at Seaview.

"I'm looking forward to Europe and that was one of the big things that made me want to sign for Crusaders,” he added.

"I want to test myself in Europe and it's exciting.

"They'll be fit but our training has been really good, it's been tough and we will be as sharp as we possibly can.

"We will have had a few friendlies beforehand so we should be going into it flying as well.

"Last year Seaview was a bit of a fortress and I know that going there as a player!

"I don't think Crusaders lost there much last season so we will be wanting to keep it tight after the first leg.”