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The 25-year-old arrived from Carrick Rangers, where he spent the latter half of last season in the Premiership after joining in January from Derriaghy.

He made seven appearances for Stuart King’s men as they recorded a best-ever top-flight points haul.

And he has since reunited with manager Matthew Tipton, who brought Dupree to Portadown during his stint at Shamrock Park.

That connection has helped make the transition into his new surroundings much smoother and he’s looking to repay that belief by impressing on the pitch.

"A lot of it was to do with ‘Tippy’ (Tipton),” Dupree said on the move. “He had signed me before at Portadown.

"And it has been a bit stop-start for me in the past year because I tore my quad twice.

"So the main thing for me was about getting back to enjoying football again.

"It's always a big bonus when you have someone like ‘Tippy’ believing in you.

"And that made the decision a lot easier for me.

"For me, confidence is massive and when you have someone that believes in you it helps a lot.

"I just want to get a rhythm back.

"I've probably had four pre-season games in a row which is something I haven't had in a long time.

"It's about getting that rhythm back and showing people what I can do.

"My last game was in the middle of April so I haven't really had any competitive football up until now.

"You can do as much training as you want but it takes time to get back up to pace in games and it has been great to get consecutive minutes."

This will be Dupree’s first stint in the Championship and the 25-year-old can’t wait to get started with a motivated Ards squad that begin their campaign at home to Newington on Saturday.

"I've never really played in the Championship before,” added the former Queen’s University man. “I'm excited for it.

"I've heard good things and it looks like any team is capable of beating each other in the league.

"It's a young team but that's good because all the boys are eager to do well and work hard."

IRISH LEAGUE PREVIEW: Ards recruit Jamal Dupree out to put injury frustration behind him