Festive Fulfilments

COLERAINE boss Oran Kearney insists his players have no other choice but to pick themselves up as they face Ballymena United tomorrow afternoon (KO 3pm)…

Danske Bank Premiership

Overview:

The Bannsiders come into the contest having not won any of their last five Premiership fixtures, including Wednesday night’s 2-0 defeat to Glentoran as Ruaidhri and Jay Donnelly were on target for the visitors. The Stripes remain in sixth spot in the table ahead of a busy run of fixtures in both the league and Irish Cup.

Ballymena United were also in midweek action as they were edged out by Linfield as Christy Manzinga’s late goal pocketed all three points for the Blues. The Braidmen have won four out of their last six Premiership fixtures and currently occupy 7th spot in the standings – five points behind Coleraine. David Jeffrey’s side will face Loughgall in the first round of the Samuel Gelston’s Whiskey Irish Cup.

Previous meetings:

The two clubs faced each other at the end of September in what was the Bannsiders’ first game on the artificial surface at The Showgrounds. Coleraine would take the lead on the half hour mark as the ball wasn’t cleared by the Ballymena defence and Matthew Shevlin was in the right place at the right time to convert from close range. The lead would be doubled in fine style on 74 minutes as Eoin Bradley’s long range effort left Jordan Williamson with no chance, before Cathair Friel was introduced from the bench to devastating affect as he added a late third.

Manager’s Thoughts:

“It’s an ideal game,” Kearney stated.

“To me, that’s the one where you go and kick start it again and get rolling.

“I think I remember this time last year we had gone through a frustrating period and we had a last minute winner against Warrenpoint and then went on a crazy run after that where we slung together a pile of wins and points.

“We’ve got to show that character, we’ve got to show that fight again, pick ourselves up again and get going.”

Officials:

The match referee will be Ian McNabb

The assistant referees are Paul Robinson and Gavin Hegarty.

Shane McGonigle has been selected as the fourth official.

Admission:

Coleraine supporters will require tickets for the fixture which can be purchased HERE.

If you are not feeling yourself tomorrow afternoon and you have symptoms which you feel are similar to COVID-19, please stay away from the stadium and think of others.

If you have access to a lateral flow/PCR test at home, we would encourage you to check yourself before coming to the game.

If you have been in contact with a positive case and haven’t yet been contacted by track and trace, please do not come to the game.

As ever, those unable to watch the fixture can follow the latest developments via the club’s official Twitter account (@ColeraineFC).