Niall Currie delighted as returning defender marks Portadown debut with goal

​The 29-year-old arrived at Shamrock Park from Ballymena United during the summer but a pre-season injury resulted in Wilson being sidelined for three months.

He made two appearances for the reserves before coming off the bench at half-time on Saturday to grab Portadown’s first goal in the 86th minute after they’d fallen 2-0 behind.

Eamon Fyfe’s stoppage time equaliser ensured the County Armagh outfit returned to the Championship summit and Currie was understandably delighted to have Wilson back, but also disappointed to lose Chris Rodgers to injury.

“He's had 45 minutes with the reserves and he got 65 minutes again the other night,” he told PortsTV. "I felt when we lost Chris, which is another huge blow, that we were lacking in midfield and we were off the pace, excluding Gary Thompson.

"It was important to get Dale's (Montgomery) presence and give us a proper holding midfielder to allow Gary to get forward more. I thought Dale did really well.

"It was a case of if we could convince Dougie that he could do 45 minutes – I felt he could and thankfully he agreed with me. It's wonderful to have him back.

"The sad part of the situation is we've lost another centre-half which is another big blow.

"Having him back is a huge lift for everybody and getting him 45 minutes he will be convinced he's in a better place now as well."