Coleraine’s Mr Versatile Josh Carson content to slot in where needed

The 28-year-old is the archetypal unsung hero of the squad who is happy to slot in wherever his manager needs him without any fuss.

The midfielder has played in almost every position bar goalkeeper during his time with the Bannsiders.

This season alone he has been deployed at left back, centre midfield and left wing.

On Saturday Carson filled the left wing back berth with typical gusto and was instrumental in Coleraine’s 3-0 win over Linfield playing a key part in the hosts’ second goal.

Speaking afterwards Carson said he is happy to play anywhere for the team so long as he is playing.

“As long as I’m on the team sheet I don’t care where I play,” he said.

“I look forward to every game, I don’t mind where I play.

“I can play a number of positions which probably helps me out in a way.

“I’m just thankful to be on the team.

“Days like this don’t come around too often and I’m thankful to be part of it.

“I think I’ve played in nearly every position, I even dropped back into centre half one day at Cliftonville when Stevie (O’Donnell) went off for a few minutes!

“But I don’t mind, I enjoy doing it, as long as I’m on the pitch I’m happy enough.”

Carson’s willingness to do a job for his team helped create Matthew Shevlin’s goal on Saturday as he pressed Michael Newberry before winning the ball for Stevie Lowry to play in the striker for Coleraine’s second goal.

“If you give players time on the ball they will hurt you,” said Carson.

“You have to get in their face and let them know you’re there.

“Thankfully I was able to do that for the second goal.

“It was nice as Stevie being the passer he is feeds Shevy, and he produces a brilliant turn, and I don’t know how he squeezes it in.

“It was brilliant for him too as he’s been out of action for a couple of games so I think he a bit of a point to prove.”

After a difficult winless run over the last few weeks the Bannsiders now have two wins in the past seven days.

Carson is hoping they can now build on their return to form.

“This will hopefully give us a mantel so that we don’t drop below that bar that we’ve set.

“The last couple of months have been tough, it’s been painful and hard, but we’ll just keep getting back on the horse.

“Thankfully things fell for us today and we got the result.

“It’s always nice to win against the champions.

“It’s never going to be an easy game. We were up against it, we had to be physical and try and win first and second balls and thankfully we did that.

“The performance always goes hand-in-hand when the team is doing well.

“To score goals and win games you need everyone pulling in the right direction.

“We always felt things would turn for us.

“When you look round the squad we have the players there. We have the old heads and the young boys, we have everything a football team needs.

“It was just a matter of being patient and waiting for things to turn, and thankfully today it clicked.”