McAree targeting back-to-back wins

COLERAINE will be hoping to register back-to-back wins in the Danske Bank Premiership as Cliftonville make the trip to The Showgrounds (KO 3pm)…

Rodney McAree secured his first victory as Coleraine boss last weekend as Gareth McConaghie’s free-kick was enough to overcome Crusaders on the Ballycastle Road. That win was followed up by a success over Dergview in the Eventsec North-West Cup as experienced trio Steven Douglas, Eoin Bradley and Paul Owens helped edge the Bannsiders into the next round. As for Cliftonville, they were also celebrating three points last weekend as they defeated Warrenpoint Town at Solitude. However, they will be hurting by Tuesday night’s defeat to Crusaders in the County Antrim Shield as they lost to their rivals 4-3 AET.

The fixture will be the second time the two sides have clashed this season. The first was back in August and it was the Stripes who would celebrate a win as Aaron Burns came off the bench to grab a brace in a 2-1 win.

Stripes boss McAree was boosted by the return of midfielder Josh Carson in last weekend’s win against Crusaders, with Eoin Bradley also available for inclusion after serving a three-match ban. There is no such joy for Lyndon Kane, Ian Parkhill, Aaron Traynor and James McLaughlin who miss out through injury. There will be a late fitness test for Aaron Burns who was substituted early in the second-half against the Crues. After registering his first three points in the Coleraine dugout last time out – McAree is hoping for more of the same.

“We want to put back-to-back wins together now,” he said.

“The next opportunity to do that is against Cliftonville. Again it’s not going to be an easy match, but we will go into it with more belief.

“Saturday’s game was a great clean sheet for us, and a great three points against the champions.

“That’s six points we have taken off Crusaders already this season. If we had turned some of those draws into wins we would have been in a lot better position.

“But there’s more positives than negatives for me at the moment.”

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

Supporters are reminded that entry is via matchday card/season tickets only.