OK relishing another big occasion

COLERAINE boss Oran Kearney believes a big crowd on the Ballycastle Road symbolises the beauty of Irish League football…

The Bannsiders welcome Linfield to The Showgrounds tomorrow afternoon in what is expected to be a sell out crowd.

After losing their last Danske Bank Premiership encounter away to Larne, the Stripes will hope to pick up a positive result against the title holders.

“We’ve lost three games this season but the biggest credit I’ll give the players is that they’ve won the very next fixture,” he said.

“We lost against Larne but we showed no real signs of that and got back up and running again.

“Games like Saturday are enjoyable ones and what the Irish League is all about.

“You hope that there will be three or four thousand people there who will make the place look brilliant and bouncing.

“Ideally, from our point of view, we just need to go and produce a performance.”

The Bannsiders reached the quarter-final of the BetMcLean League Cup on Tuesday night as Conor McKendry’s goal with ten minutes to go saw off the challenge of Ballymena United.

After a poor first-half showing, Kearney praised his players for their performance after the break.

“It was great for Conor and nice for him to get on the score sheet,” he continued.

“I praised the guys after the game because everyone wants a good start and when you get off to one, it’s easier to sustain that.

“The hardest thing to do after a tough or abject half is to gain momentum, tempo and all the things you are looking for.

“The biggest credit I’ll give our guys is that once the referee blew his whistle for the second-half we got right on it and we looked like a different team.”