Cliftonville’s new stopper is spurred on for another Brush with the big time after retirement u-turn

and all of a sudden Saturdays are a write-off for her again, but she’s well used to it now.”

The Reds were a hard team to pin down last year. Thumping wins over their fiercest rivals Crusaders illustrated the quality in the ranks, particularly in attack, but all too often a soft underbelly was exposed, with inconsistency the only constant in a topsy-turvy campaign. That said, Gray was only new to the role having moved from his position as director of football at Warrenpoint.

It was a significant step up, and allied to a raft of brand new signings, Cliftonville were a team in transition.

In contrast, the pre-season just past has been a lot quieter, and Brush, buoyed by an opening day win away to Glentoran, is convinced his new team can be in the mix this year.

He said: “If you look throughout the squad, the talent of the players and the level they play at having played against them over the last 18 months, they are a threat going forward, they always have been and they are guaranteed to score goals.

“And even in the games I played against them, the quality is there in the squad so it’s just trying to get that balance right at both ends I suppose.

“Like everyone, it’s all about silverware and we want to be up around the top end of the table towards the end of the season and in cup finals and stuff.

“Early on in my career down south, I was lucky enough to be involved in teams and squads who had won leagues so to get back to that side of football would be great for me.”

Birmingham-born and bred, Brush spent his formative years as a keeper at Coventry City, joining when he was 12 and later signing a three-year pro deal.

However, he was unable to establish himself in the first team and found himself a casualty of a clear-out under then manager Mickey Adams.

He spent a few years at various lower league clubs around his native Midlands, before upping sticks for a new league and country with a move to Sligo, where he has been based ever since.

But it was at Tallaght, not the Showgrounds, where he would reach the pinnacle of his career as Shamrock Rovers became the first Irish team to reach the knockout stages of European competition.

“I came back from almost a year