Regan’s first game arrived on Boxing Day when he came on in the 67th minute for Iacopo LaRocca in the 4-0 home loss to Sydney FC.

He comes from Malaysian side Negeri Sembilan FA after playing five seasons with former club Newcastle Jets.

Regan was originally signed as an injury replacement to Jordan Elsey (knee – season) in October.

Regan said he did not come to the club to make up the numbers.

“I came from another A-League club where they’ve got new owners and doing well, but in the past it was a basket case, so this was a fresh start and the club has been brilliant,” Regan said.

“The success of last year people want to replicate it, the attitude of the group is amazing, we have good leaders, good young boys and the coaching staff have been really good.

“A few people have said to me ‘oh, you must be frustrated’, yes of course, any footballer who wasn’t playing who said that would be lying, but at the same time I’d prefer to be on the bench in a winning team than playing every game and not doing well.

“Hopefully now we can turn our season around, New Year, fresh start and undefeated in 2017 (so far).”

Regan said the glass was still half full in approaching the second half of the season adding he had to be very patient while waiting for the likes of LaRocca and Dylan McGowan to be dropped.

The original rivalry of the A-League is set for Saturday night as the Reds meet Melbourne Victory in forecasted 35c heat at Coopers Stadium.

The Victory are flying high on the table sitting second with a game in hand, while United are still dead last on seven points.

Regan admitted there were nerves, but felt they could disrupt the Victory’s momentum.

“I read an article this morning stating if they continue the way they are they’ll be untouchable like Sydney,” he said.

“That’s our mission – to stop that, here in front of our fans who deserve to cheer, they’ve had a few weeks now of no results and it’s time to turn that around.

“We have everything to play for, we have nothing to lose and we can only go up.

“On paper we’re arguably one of the best squads in the league, it’s just about putting that together, any competition with a salary cap means there’s going to be teams that have up and down periods.

“Momentum is so huge, so it’s time for us to build that momentum in a positive way.”

Photo credit: Chris Kelly