CLIFTONVILLE'S ascent in the Irish Premiership has coincided with manager Tommy Breslin reuniting 'the Odd Couple' of Marc Smyth and Jaimie McGovern at the heart of the Reds defence.
A Cliftonville victory, it appears, is not complete without a good old-fashioned squabble between the Larne pair during games.
Smyth and McGovern's central defensive partnership proved one of the bedrocks of the north Belfast club's title success last season.
A combination of injury and suspension prevented Breslin from fielding his first choice defensive partnership at the start of the season.
Speaking ahead of tonight's league trip to Glenavon, Smyth quipped: "I always say we get on alright as long as Jaimie does what he's told.
"We're similar personalities. I'd talk a lot on the pitch because you expect high standards from people. And, as much as we argue, Jaimie is the same as me.
"I think I have improved his game and he has probably improved my game. It's the small things; we don't let each other away with anything because those small things can add up.
"So you're always on at each other to do better. I think Jaimie deserves huge credit because, over the last month, he's starting to look like an excellent centre-back. "He did really well last year but it was a new position for him. I can see he's got so much better."
Even with McGovern and Smyth (pictured) at the heart of the defence, the Reds lost 1-0 on their last visit to Mourneview back in September.
"That result was more of a shock," said Smyth.
"We didn't play that well and yet we missed about five one-on-ones. On another day, we'd be three or four goals up."
The defending champions, who haven't lost a league game since going down 2-0 at home to Crusaders on October 5, can cut Linfield's lead at the top to three points with a win at Mourneview.
"We are where we want to be in terms of how we're playing and how we're performing," Smyth added.
"We look at some of the points we've dropped and we know we could be in a better position.
"But we're still very much in contention, we're in the League Cup final in two weeks' time. If we win tomorrow night, we'll be three points off the top.
"I don't think you could ask for much more. And that's achieved with not a big budget. People forget that sometimes. Money gets you good players but it doesn't always get you a team."
Last week, Smyth signed a contract extension that will keep him at Solitude for another two years.
"The first quarter of the season there was a bit of soul-searching