COLERAINE travel to league leaders Linfield as Premiership commitments continue this afternoon (KO 3pm)…

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Overview:

Coleraine were beaten by Glentoran last Friday night as goals from Jordan Jenkins and Kodi Lyons-Foster gave the visitors all three points at The Showgrounds. Despite halving the deficit through Matthew Shevlin’s late strike, Coleraine failed to grab an equaliser as Glentoran held on for a 2-1 success. The result means the Bannsiders come into this weekend’s fixtures sitting 8th in the Premiership standings.

Linfield are flying high in the Premiership as they sit 19 points clear at the summit as they close in on a 57th league title. David Healy’s men recorded a 1-0 victory against Loughgall last time out as Matthew Fitzpatrick’s header proved to be the difference at Windsor Park. Callumn Morrison (Falkirk) and Kieran Offord (St Mirren) made the switch to the Blues in the recent January transfer window.

Previous Meetings:

Linfield emerged with a 3-0 victory when the two teams last met at The Showgrounds back in September. After Coleraine had a few sights of goal, Linfield took the lead when Joel Cooper rifled in from Matthew Fitzpatrick’s cut-back, before Kirk Millar’s corner-kick went directly into the net. The goals kept on arriving for the Blues as they made it 3-0 before the break when Kyle McClean converted his chance in the box after he received a low cross from the right wing after possession was given away in the Coleraine midfield. Both teams had opportunities after the interval but Linfield saw the game out comfortably.

In December, Linfield inflicted their second 3-0 win over Coleraine this season as Matthew Fitzpatrick’s double helped the Blues pick up all three points at Windsor Park. The hosts made the breakthrough on 29 minutes when a long ball forward wasn’t defended and Fitzpatrick did the rest by powering a strike into the back of the net from an acute angle. After Coleraine had a few sights of goal midway through the second-half, Linfield doubled their advantage through Joel Cooper on 72 minutes as the winger was afforded too much space inside the box to roll the ball into the bottom corner. David Healy’s side added a third on 88 minutes as substitute Cammy Ballantyne laid the ball on a plate for Fitzpatrick to dispatch his second of the afternoon.

Head coach’s Thoughts:

“They’re strong and they’ve got massive attacking threats in all areas,” Shiels said.

“They are solid, they don’t concede many goals, so we are going to have to be right on it.

“I think when you go away to Linfield it’s the mentality of what we are arriving there with.

“I think we’ve got to go there to try and win the game. That’s what we’ll be aiming to do.

“We’ve got the quality to do it and it’s about when we cross the white line about the players putting a stamp on our personality and what we want out of the game.”

Officials:

The match referee will be Christopher Morrison.

The assistant referees are George Argyropoulos and Kristian Hanna.

Shane Andrews has been appointed as the fourth official.

Admission:

Coleraine supporters are advised that they require tickets to enter the ground which can be bought HERE.

We would urge supporters to arrive at the ground in good time and respect residents and businesses in terms of parking your vehicle.

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