Portadown boss Niall Currie feels this season's Championship challenge is the toughest of his career to date

Currie, who has lifted two league crowns at both Loughgall and Ards in an impressive career that is unmatched at this level, is looking to lead his hometown Ports back to the top-flight following their Premiership relegation last term.

The pre-season favourites are embroiled in a battle with the likes of Institute, Bangor, Dundela and H&W Welders for glory in a division where only 11 points separates the leaders and ninth-placed Newington ahead of Portadown’s trip to local rivals Annagh United this evening.

With Kevin Deery’s ‘Stute strengthening their title bid last month by signing Northern Ireland international Daniel Lafferty and Mikhail Kennedy while Rory Donnelly has also dropped into the Championship, Currie feels it’s the most competitive league he has been involved in – an opinion which can be backed up by the fact four clubs have progressed to the Irish Cup quarter-finals.

"I think the Championship is a little bit different this year,” he said. “I look at the clubs and you see Institute signing full-time players and signing what they've signed and you see other teams...people have to understand that this is a different Championship now.

"You look at the Welders' budget too - it's huge. Teams go under the radar, but we'll never go under the radar because we're such a big club.

"It's always pointed at me about our budget, but there are three or four teams in this league with the same budget as me, if not more, and I know that for a fact. They go below the radar and we'll always be above it, but that is what it is and that's what being at a big club is all about.

"You have four or five teams all vying to go up, they are all ambitious...this is the toughest Championship I've been involved in. I've won four of them, but this is the toughest one.

"It's the quality of players you're seeing coming into the Championship now. You've big (David) Parkhouse at the Welders, Lafferty has signed for Institute, Mikhail Kennedy...I could name you even more.

"It's a better Championship because the quality that teams are able to sign. It's a very difficult league and it's going to go right to the wire.”

Currie was able to make his own additions in the January window, signing six players, including the Championship’s joint-top scorer Zach Barr, who has started life at Shamrock Park by scoring five goals in seven matches.

That squad depth has allowed them to maintain their unbeaten run in cup competitions with Saturday’s Irish Cup triumph over Bangor a 10th consecutive win this season.

"We really struggled at Christmas time and if we had have had a cup competition then we wouldn't have got through - it's that simple,” he added. “We were able to get the guys in at the start of January and some of them were available to play in the Mid-Ulster Cup which gave me an opportunity to rest the likes of our skipper.

"Gary (Thompson) has had cortisone in his knee and once we get Gary fully fit and healthy, he's as good as any midfielder in the country in my opinion.

"Being able to put TJ (Murray) or Owesy (Eoghan) McCawl in and having Jack Henderson coming in, it has gave us an opportunity to manage Gary's injury which we didn't have before. We asked him to play week in, week out with his knee hanging off him."