New Larne signing hoping to reap the benefits of full-time football at Inver Park

The 18-year-old winger made 14 league appearances for the County Tyrone outfit last season as they survived the drop by beating Annagh United 3-2 on aggregate in the promotion/relegation play-off and scored his maiden senior goal in a 2-2 draw with Glenavon.

Smith has also represented Northern Ireland at U18 level, coming off the bench twice in friendlies against Austria in November and is now hoping that training in a full-time environment can help take his game to the next level.

“Full-time football really sealed the deal for me,” he told the club’s website. “With training every day you’re obviously going to improve and that’s something I really want to do.

“There’s a good bunch of lads here. Training has been tough, but I’ve already started to settle in here.

"I want to get as many league starts as I can this season and play my part in another successful season here.”

Smith joins Craig Farquhar, Ali Omar and Isaac Westendorf as new faces at Larne and manager Tiernan Lynch believes they’ve signed an exciting talent.

“Corey comes to the club as an exciting young player who really began to make a name for himself last year at Dungannon,” he added. “He’s only 18, so we have to be careful how we look after him and how we make sure he continues his development here.

“Moving into a full-time environment will be a big factor in helping that.

"He is hungry to keep progressing and that is key for anyone at Corey’s stage of their career.”