McCready upset with form

STRIKER Joe McCready admits his on-off move to Derry City and Coleraine over the summer months drew him to tears and it has been a burden to him this season.

The 19-year-old also concedes that he needs to work harder if he wants to get back to his best for Institute.

“To be honest I was in tears in the house lots of times during the summer, because my head was pickled with ’Stute, Derry and Coleraine all looking for me to sign for them,” he said.

“David Platt (Coleraine manager) was phoning me every single day, then Stephen Kenny was ringing me five minutes later, I didn’t know what to do.

“I turned Coleraine down because I thought I was signing for Derry, but then Stephen turned me down and when I went back to ’Stute I think those two other teams were in my head whenever I was playing and that wasn’t right.

“The minute I knew I would be staying at ’Stute it took me a while to get my head around it and it was hard.

“I felt bad because I told Trevor (Hewitt) and the rest of the board that I wouldn’t let them down and I would score this week for them but I didn’t and it was annoying.”

The former Westbank centre-forward also acknowledges that boss John Gregg was right to drop him for the Ballyclare game and he hopes last season’s form can come back sooner rather than later.

“It was hard when John put me on the bench for the Ballyclare game, but I knew why I was there because I wasn’t playing as good as I knew I could play.

“John also knew that I wasn’t playing at my best and he told me that I needed a kick up the backside. He also told me that my place isn’t always guaranteed, no matter how good a player I am.

“Maybe all that stuff was going to my head too but I’m back in the team now because Vinny (Sweeney) unfortunately got injured.

“It’s not a good thing that Vinny’s injured, but it is could be good for me, because he only has me and Decky (Divin) as his two main strikers and maybe that will just push me on over the next few games.”