Veteran Cliftonville defender Colin Coates says he is determined to prove he "still has it" as he plots more Gibson Cup glory.
The 37-year-old won countless trophies during his time at Crusaders including three league titles, two Irish Cups, a League Cup and the all-Ireland Setanta Cup.
There were some raised eyebrows when Coates arrived at Solitude back in September 2021, but the experienced centre-half has proved a shrewd signing by Paddy McLaughlin.
Read more: Irish Premiership recap as Reds and Blues earn big wins in title race
A leader on the pitch, and a vocal presence inside the changing room, Coates says he is savouring every moment he has remaining in football.
"I think when you get to my age you appreciate it more. I maybe had a disappointing year at Glenavon where it didn't go my way and didn't work out the way I wanted," he told BBC Sportsound.,
"I was very fortunate to get the chance to come and play at Cliftonville at that stage of my career. And I just embrace every training session and match, because you never know when it will be my last and when it could end for me.
"I am around a lot of young lads who probably energise me. If I don't put it in in training then they are going to leave me behind.
"So it gives me a new lease of life and I am enjoying it. And I am enjoying competing against the top teams and testing myself to see if I still have it, and today wasn't too bad.."
Cliftonville continued their title assault with a massive 2-1 win over Glentoran on Saturday.
Sean Moore was the hero with two goals, but Coates and Jonny Addis were a formidable presence at the other end of the pitch.
It was the perfect response from McLaughlin's Reds after suffering defeats to Linfield and Larne in recent weeks.
"We knew after those couple of defeats that today would be huge. We have the Irish Cup next week which is massive and all our focus will turn to that, and then we have Crusaders which is huge to keep us hanging on the coat tails of Larne, if we can get a result there.
"But they have been formidable at Seaview all season, and beat Coleraine there quite comfortably a couple of weeks ago.
"We need to take our home form and style of football into our away games, and if we play like we did today we can be a match for anyone."
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