'It doesn’t scare me one bit' - Portadown boss Niall Currie reveals aspect key to promoted club's Irish League climb

Promoted back up to the Irish League main stage as second-tier champions, summer rebuilding has helped Currie finalise the “strong characters” and “spine” he feels central to progress.

The Ports make the short trip to Lurgan today for a Boxing Day bash against old rivals Glenavon aiming to build on a bright start which has left Currie’s men sitting second in the standings.

Rapid progress has come from traditional methods Currie considers so key to his management style.

"It’s leadership...I’ve always said with good sides the changing room looks after itself,” he said. "Some managers don’t like to bring in strong characters or like to deal with them.

"I never have been one...I love bringing in strong characters.

"They’ll help me do my job because sometimes they might come out and say something I then don’t need to say.

"You have to have that – and even some will come at me (to discuss situations) privately.

"We’ve got leadership through our team, five or six.

"I like strong characters in or around me, that’s what I’m about.

"It doesn’t scare me one bit."

He added: ​”I think quality (too)...it’s no disrespect but levels are levels.

"We wanted to bring in spines and get that right...we wanted to build around that.

"If you look through the spine of our team it’s experienced.

"I’m not saying we’re an old team but we’ve a few oul hands.

"We knew we had six or seven guys from last year who could step up.

"We’re looking forward to what happens the rest of the season."

Currie takes his Ports to Mourneview Park following back-to-back home delight over Cliftonville and Crusaders.

"Clean sheets make all the difference...that's our eighth I think this season,” said Currie after the 1-0 weekend defeat of Crusaders. "The last 5-10 minutes was a bit of an onslaught as well, long balls into your box.

"We picked up second ball outside the box, Ben Wylie picked up a lot...a lot of stuff he's not really renowned for.

"We got our heads on things, we threw our bodies on the line, our goalkeeper (Aaron McCarey) was superb again.

"I thought Lee Chapman was sensational.

"Lewis (MacKinnon) is a great kid, Baris (Altintop) is a young lad as well, then two guys outside them...Stevie Mac (Steven McCullough) and Lee, plus our goalkeeper.

"Credit where it's due...Gary (Thompson) and Ben (Wylie) won a lot of second balls (from midfield).

"It wasn't a great game, the conditions were awful...a swirling wind for both teams.

"Hard to watch I would say and not one for the purists but it came down to a dogfight.

"It was very small margins and Declan (Caddell, Crusaders manager) will probably feel aggrieved they didn't get something from the game and, to be fair, rightly so.

"Ultimately, we were able to dig in.”