Portadown striker Lee Bonis believes competing in the Danske Bank Premiership is the perfect environment for players with ambitions to play full-time football.

The 22-year-old harbours his own ambitions of playing full-time football either on the mainland or in the Irish League at some point in the near future.

However, despite chasing that dream, the Portadown native is putting his full focus on helping Matthew Tipton’s men climb the table as they travel to Warrenpoint Town this weekend.

“My goal is to progress as much as I can and hopefully play full-time football in England or even in the Irish League,” Bonis said.

“I’m just concentrating on doing what I can by scoring goals and helping Portadown climb the table. I think we made a rough start to the league campaign but we are still relatively new after only gaining promotion last season.

“We have had limited time to really work on things with COVID and not being full-time but with no relegation last season we were able to stay up, we got what we wanted out of it and done better than what was expected.

“This season it seems like we are picking up points against the top teams but struggling to do that versus the clubs in and around us in the table which is frustrating.

“We set a goal at the start of the season to finish as high in the table as we can and we always go out looking for three points.

“We don’t want to end up in a relegation battle but we need to pick up as many points as possible and take the positives out of our recent results against the likes of Larne and Cliftonville.

“I saw a statistic there that we have dropped the most points from winning positions out of all the teams in the league and we need to put that right.

“We beat Warrenpoint Town in the previous game this season but it could have gone either way, however we know we need three points as we head into the Boxing Day game and the New Year period.”

Bonis’ rise as one of the most predatory strikers in the Danske Bank Premiership is a story of hard work and dedication as he left Portadown Youth to play in the Mid-Ulster League with Portadown BBOB and Seagoe.

At Seagoe, the marksman would net 50 goals during the 2018/19 season with Matthew Tipton acquiring his services and the rest is history as he netted 19 times in Portadown’s promotion back to the top flight.

“Playing men’s football in the Mid-Ulster League changed me for the better,” added Bonis, who earned caps with Northern Ireland under-21’s.

“It allowed me to compete in a physical environment and gave me an edge no-one else would have got playing Youths football.

“It toughened me up, I thoroughly enjoyed it and wouldn’t change a single thing.

“It just shows that if there’s people willing to work and progress, then they can drop down a level and work on their game as there is still people watching and keeping an eye on developments.

“Portadown is the club I’ve supported my whole life and it was an easy decision to join. Thankfully, I was able to score goals and help us get promotion from the Championship which meant a lot as we were down for too long.”

Bonis – who spent time on trial at Burnley last year – was given the captain’s armband after a serious injury sustained to Luke Wilson back in April.

Despite admitting it was a bittersweet moment, Bonis was thankful for being trusted to fulfil the role and that he is continuously looking to improve his game.

“I think I was given the armband because I’m driven, motivational and the manager knows the hard work that I put in,” he continued.

“He also knows how much I care about the club and the trust he has in me means a lot.

“It’s just a pity that Luke has been ruled out with a serious injury as he’s a great skipper and a good player.

“I probably over achieved last season as it was my first in the top flight but I’m working hard and taking any advice that comes my way.

“I know that if I don’t score or contribute then I won’t play and it’s as simple as that.

“I’m working on little things to improve, I always watch the Irish League highlights show to see what other strikers are doing and the manager is a great help as he was a deadly striker in this league.”