Crusaders forward Kieran Offord says his spell playing in the Irish Premiership has given him a new lease of life and has raised his confidence to levels it has not previously reached.

The 20-year-old has scored eight league goals so far this season during his loan from Scottish Premiership side St Mirren.

He also netted a hat-trick earlier this month to ensure his team’s passage into the semi-finals of the BetMcLean Cup at the expense of Dungannon Swifts.

His first strike of the campaign came on the opening day of the new term in August as his goal gave the Crues a 1-0 win over Glentoran at the Oval in Declan Caddell’s first game in charge of the north Belfast club.

The sides meet again at Seaview on Friday night in a game which will be broadcast live on BBC iPlayer and on the BBC Sport website and app.

“I’m probably the most confident I’ve been of the back of a poor season for me last year,” explained Offord.

“Both loans [at Edinburgh City and Stirling Albion] never really worked out so I thought this was almost make or break as my confidence was so low. Now it’s probably the highest it has been.”

“In pre-season I wasn’t exactly doing great but the manager still put his faith in me and instilled in me that he knew I was a good player and that I would score goals. He’s given me the most minutes I’ve had in my career so far.”

‘Full season would benefit me in the long run’

Offord took soundings from fellow St Mirren player Fraser Taylor before following in his footsteps by opting to take up a loan period in the Irish Premiership.

Taylor was one of the bright lights in a Ballymena United squad which struggled last season, only securing Premiership status via an end-of-season play-off.

“I spoke to Fraser quite a lot. He’s probably my closest mate back home at St Mirren and when he was on loan last year I was in touch with him every week asking how he was enjoying it and he really enjoyed his time over here.

“It was difficult for him as Ballymena last season were struggling a little bit.

“He told me it was a tough league, physical, but he did say I would do well in it due to my pace and other attributes.”

Offord could be recalled by his parent club in January but appears keen to prolong his stay at Seaview to further his development.

“I’ve told everyone how much I’m enjoying my loan spell, how much it’s been making me a better player and obviously scoring goals and growing in confidence in a good league with a good standard of football.

“I think if I got a full season under me of doing what I’m doing it would benefit me a lot better in the long run.

“It’s my first loan where I’ve been away and I’m seeing the boys every day near enough. The environment is brilliant and that is probably why I’m doing well.”

‘We need to be in their faces’

The Crusaders striker is expecting a higher quality contest on Friday than that which the sides played out in a largely dull season opener.

The Glens sit fifth in the table, one place and one point above the Crues, who have two games in hand over their opponents on Friday.

“In the first game of the season it was always going to be a bit frantic, there wasn’t a lot of football played,” he reflected.

“Both of us have kicked on since then and put better performances together so hopefully Friday night will be a good game.

“Both teams should go into the game full of confidence. The start of the game might be a wee bit hectic, we need to win our fight and then get the ball down and try and play. We need to be in their faces and make it hard for them.”