Carson has no fears over a top six finish

Stephen Carson high fives the Coleraine fans after scoring the last gasp winner against Glenavon.

Carson was the hero on Saturday as his stoppage time strike gave the Showgrounds outfit their first win in four.

But the green shots of recovery are appearing according to the winger after a difficult few weeks.

“When things were going against us over the last few weeks there was a little bit of here we go again,” said Carson after Saturday’s game.

“We had been playing well for 60-odd minutes then we suddenly found ourselves pegged back by the opposition or even falling behind.

“We’ve tried to rectify that by saying that no matter what happens we just concentrate on the next ball, we just stay focused on our own jobs and don’t get frustrated if things go against us.

“We know we are the only ones who will get us out of it and there’s no point feeling sorry for ourselves.

“Today we showed that mentality and we got the bit of luck we deserved.

“We know we have quality in our side. Gary Browne’s cross for Eoin Bradley’s equaliser showed that, but now we have to show that every week.

“The top six is most definitely achievable for us.

“I can understand criticism of results but I don’t see the level of performances being poor this season.

“Sometimes you wonder whether you are good enough as we weren’t taking our chances when we were on top in games.

“But we know we have plenty of quality throughout this side. We have to kick on now and get a run of results behind us so we can continue to climb the table.”

The Bannsiders are going to have to do that without influential midfielder Stevie Lowry, who is set to be ruled out for a number of weeks with a knee ligament problem. Carson though says it’s up to the rest of the team to push on in Lowry’s absence.

“It’s very disappointing for us to lose someone like Stevie to a long term injury.

“He is one of the top midfielders in the league and he’s a good lad too,” he said.

“You never like to see guys at the peak of the game picking up injuries like this.

“It’s up to us to try and maintain some good form so that when Stevie is fit enough to come back in again he can give us another boost for the remainder of the season.”