New Dungannon Swifts signing wants to play part in helping club push into Premiership's top-six while Newry City's latest arrival is embracing Championship test

Rodney McAree’s side enjoyed a tremendous finish to the 2023/24 campaign, winning all five of their split fixtures to mount a late European play-off challenge before ultimately finishing three points adrift of seventh-placed Carrick Rangers.

It marked huge progress from the previous season – Dungannon collected 17 more points, lost nine fewer matches and scored 36 more goals last term – and McGovern is keen to carry those improvements into the new campaign.

The 21-year-old has spent the entirety of his senior career at Newry City up to this point, scoring 23 times in 110 appearances across competitions, and also earned seven caps for Northern Ireland’s U21 while at the Showgrounds.

"It's a really good move for me and I really wanted to be here,” he told the club’s media channel. “I spoke to Rodney a lot and it's a really, really good club and I want to push on again this season. I'm delighted to be here.

"I went to Newry when I was 16 and loved it. I was there for five years, progressed really well and I'm looking for a fresh slate at Dungannon - hopefully it goes well.

"One thing that enticed me here was they've a really good surface and hopefully that will increase quality as well. We want to push on into the top-six...Dungannon have a really good squad and I want to come here and score goals."

While McGovern has departed Newry, the Championship side have announced the arrival of Ryan McNickle following the expiration of his contract at Lisburn Distillery.

The 24-year-old scored 15 goals in 24 Premier Intermediate League outings last season having previously impressed for Wellington Rec and is excited for the new challenge.

"When Barry contacted me and said their main goal was getting back into the Premiership, it definitely made me want to come and be apart of it,” he told the club’s media channel. “Life isn’t about being comfortable – two seasons ago I was playing in the Ballymena (& Provincial) League and scored around 36 goals.

"The season at Distillery was another step up for me and again I got another 19 goals, so it wasn’t a bad couple of seasons. I didn’t want to be comfortable – I wanted to push myself on and see what I can do in the Championship.”