Niall McGinn: New Glentoran signing excited by Oval move after 'frustrating' Dundee spell

Niall McGinn has won 72 caps for Northern Ireland, scoring six goals

Northern Ireland's Niall McGinn says he is "excited" by the prospect of playing at the Oval after signing for Glentoran on an 18-month deal.

The 35-year-old winger admits that he "wants to hit the ground running" after a difficult spell at Dundee during which he fell out of favour.

McGinn returns to the Irish League 15 years after leaving Dungannon Swifts.

"I just want to get playing and enjoy my football as the last five, six months have been frustrating," he said.

Speaking to Glentoran's YouTube channel, he added: "I want to get up to match fitness as quickly as possible and hopefully I can bring my qualities to Glentoran."

McGinn, capped 72 times by Northern Ireland, will bolster Glentoran's attacking ranks in the absence of the injured Conor McMenamin and believes the move made perfect sense for his ambitions to move into coaching after he calls time on his playing career.

"Moving to Glentoran fits the bill for what I want to do now initially in terms of playing and later in my career," added the former Celtic and Aberdeen player.

McGinn also called for fans to stick by the east Belfast side after a poor run which has included defeats in their last four league matches, leaving them 10 points off the pace with two games in hand.

McGinn said the last six months of his spell at Dundee were "frustrating" having joined the Scottish side in January 2022

"The fans need to get behind the team, we need all the players and fans together if we want to achieve success," said McGinn, who scored for Northern Ireland at Euro 2016.

Since leaving Dungannon in 2008, McGinn has had stints at Celtic, where he won the Scottish Cup, Aberdeen twice and a short spell in South Korea.

Despite being miles from home, he says he has followed the development of the Irish League and has seen a marked improvement in the standard.

"The league is more professional now, there are bigger crowds and the league can attract better players, with many more getting a move across the water."

In addition to winning the Scottish Cup with Celtic, McGinn won the Scottish League Cup with Aberdeen in 2014.

Glentoran are also frontrunners to sign former Cork City and Cliftonville winger Daire O'Connor, 25, from Scottish Championship side Ayr United.

Meanwhile, Linfield have signed forward Rhys Annett and full-back Ryan McKay, both 18, from Dundela.

Linfield boss David Healy said: "We've brought other young players in to the club in recent times and hopefully Rhys and Ryan will be able to make the same sort of progress as Andrew Clarke, Ethan Devine and Liam McStravick have done since we brought them in to the club."