Finn Harps manager Ollie Horgan says that Paddy McCourt ‘quality’ will be a key factor for his side this season.
By Chris McNulty, Donegal Sport Hub
McCourt, a Northern Ireland international and a former Celtic player, was this week signed by Harps, having trained with the club last week and after playing a friendly against Cabinteely on Saturday.
McCourt most recently played with Glenavon, but his move to Harps is seen as a massive coup for Horgan’s men.
Horgan said: “To be fair, with Paddy McCourt’s situation, Paul Hegarty did the groundwork. It has worked for us and for Paddy.
“We’re only up the road from him. Paddy will add to it with his quality, but he is here because he wants to be here.
“It’s not for money or for people extending the budget, absolutely not.
“There is no better player attacking-wise in the club than Paddy. I think he knows how we work and he knows that it is about us staying in the Premier Division.”
Also in the last week, Harps confirmed that Barry Molloy had done a U-turn on his retirement while Sean Houston has again been added to the roster.
Horgan said: “This didn’t just happen this week. Myself and Paul have been speaking to a lot of players over many weeks. We spoke to plenty who haven’t come near us.
“This week has given us a boost, but a lot of work was done over a number of months.”
Harps have also added Danny Morrissey, Killian Cantwell, Ciaran O’Connor, Caolan McAleer, Harry Doherty and Jonny Bonner to their ranks.
Horgan said: “If we hadn’t added that little bit of quality, we’d be under pressure. We’re under pressure anyway, but we have something to work with.
“It has potential. It’s a matter of getting that potential out of them and getting things to gel. The League has improved this year.
“You’re looking at who we’ll finish above. We’ll be down at the bottom fighting, but we’ll keep fighting.”
LISTEN HERE TO OLLIE HORGAN’S INTERVIEW WITH CHARLIE COLLINS
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