GARY HAS BURNING DESIRE New Nortel boss will work tirelessly to get Monkstown club back to the top

no idea what they are like and they are probably coming in with the exact same ambitions as us.”

One of Nortel’s new signings, centre-back Mark Leckey, will have to wait a few months before making his competitive debut after breaking his ankle last week, but that injury aside, Burns feels his squad is equipped to challenge, with the Factory chief particularly pleased with the strength-in-depth he has in the attacking areas.

“We have so many options up top, Ross Mcnab is going to be a find – he’s a good player, a flying machine and he’s going to score goals for us,” said Burns. “Big Beaver (Stephen Coppen) is just a completely different option, he’s strong as a bull and he’s a weapon not many people have, just a completely different unit.

“Then you have Wilky (Wilkinson) who has scored goals for Nortel for years and Dale Fenner who has scored for years and they are going to find it easier in 2C.

“And then the surprise package might be wee Ryan O’neill (pictured celebrating above).

“He plays out left but scored five in his first two pre-season games for us.

“Then there’s Stevie Mcdowell as well… the goals for us could come from anywhere. I’m very happy with the squad we have here but we are always looking to add too.”

Coppen, O’neill and Mcnab were on target in Saturday’s win at the Factory but Nortel were made to sweat for the points, playing most of the second half with 10 men after Dee Hunter saw red.

“They scored about 30 seconds after we went down to 10 men so it was a real baptism of fire,” said Burns.

“It was a battle but it’s three points on the table and that’s all that matters.”