Coleraine out to extend home run with ‘tough’ Glentoran test

Having recorded Premiership wins over Dungannon Swifts and Larne, the Bannsiders shared the spoils on Saturday with league leaders Cliftonville.

Now Coleraine welcome Glentoran to The Showgrounds before wrapping up the five-game run this weekend against defending champions Linfield.

“It’s another tough one,” said Coleraine boss Oran Kearney. “I like to take pride in our training being good and boys looking forward to coming to training.

“But you ask any player would they rather train or play a match and they’ll say play a match.

“Hopefully we’ll get another good crowd.

“The lights and everything else at this time of the year makes it exciting as well.

“So we’ll look forward to it and hopefully get another big performance.

“When you look at their squad of players.

“And they’ve just bought another for January.

“Their squad is phenomenal.

“They could probably field two teams in the Irish League and more than hold their own.

“And that’s the challenge. That’s what we’ve got to push against and what we’ve got to be ready for.

“Those are the levels we have to hit.

“We know what it takes to get a result against the full-time teams.

“Thankfully we’ve done that season and we’ve done that against Glentoran this season and Larne as well.

“So it’s important we’ve got to go and just try and hit our level again.

“There was that trilogy of draws towards the end of last year and generally there hasn’t been a huge amount between us in games.

“It’s important we just go and get that big performance again.”

The Glens sit a single point above Coleraine in the league standings, with the two clubs separated within the table by third-place Linfield.

The packed midweek programme features a full schedule and includes Cliftonville hitting the road to take on Larne.

“The side has improved massively since January and a lot of that is down to the new faces coming in,” said Reds boss Paddy McLaughlin. “And especially this summer as the boys who have come in have lifted the level up again, and the other boys have responded to that as they don’t want to be left behind.

“So we’ve come a long way over the last 12 months, but we’re still a work in progress.

“We’ve still a long way to go, and if we want to stay in the top end of the division competing against the top sides we have to keep improving.

“What a month it’s been.

“This will be our fifth away game on the bounce on Tuesday night.

“It’s a crazy run of fixtures.

“In the next few weeks we’ll have a couple of midweek games coming up and cup semi-finals, so it’s a massive month ahead.

“The boys have been superb up until now and they have risen to the challenge.

“Hopefully they will continue that because the games coming up are not just massive for the club but for the fans as well.

“There’s nothing between the division.

“You see the results every week, and how hard you have to work against any team you play.

“You have to be at your maximum. Anything less and you run the risk of losing the game.

“It’s brilliant for the league that it is so competitive right from top to bottom.

TONIGHT’S FIXTURES: Coleraine v Glentoran, Crusaders v Portadown, Dungannon Swifts v Glenavon, Larne v Cliftonville, Linfield v Carrick Rangers, Warrenpoint Town v Ballymena United

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