The utility took an extended break following Murray’s most successful NPL campaign this year and admitted the decision to stay on was far from straightforward.

Pye’s home club Melrose was in the hunt for his services before he ultimately put pen to paper.

“At the end of the season I was pretty zapped mentally and physically, so I took longer than most other people to recommit,” Pye said.

“I needed to recharge and take some time to work out what I needed to do.

“There was obviously the lure of playing back at Melrose who still have a very soft spot for me, but in the end I’ve got to play at a level I can for as long as I can.

“The club keeps moving forward in terms of professionalism, so they’ve probably signed players a lot earlier than they previously would have.

“I just needed to make sure my body was right before I started again.”

Pye has played in many positions during his three seasons at Murray before settling at centre back alongside mid-season recruit Halil Gur at the end of the year.

However, this pre-season has seen Pye train in different spots under new coach Elliot Jones.

“I’m open to play anywhere because I just love playing football,” Pye said.

“I think he’s going to move me around a fair bit, but I’m excited for the challenge.”

Pye joins a massive list of players who have signed on in recent weeks including Ashley Dunn, Zac Walker, Alex West, Lewis Greenwood, Melkie Woldemichael, Connor Caponecchia, Ryan Giles, Halil Gur and Abdulkerim Koc, while AWFA star goalkeeper Matt Mildren has crossed from Boomers.

“There’s nothing wrong with what we’ve got there, so we don’t need to bring in a whole bunch of players to be honest,” Pye said.

“It would be nice to add a bit more quality, but we only need one or two.

“Internally, everyone has spoken about how we can do something a bit bigger each year and that’s been the way it’s trending.”