RUAIDHRI Higgins says he plans to use as much of his squad as possible over the weekend as the Bannsiders are involved in back-to-back games…
It all kicks off on Friday night as Coleraine are the visitors to Larne in the Charity Shield final (KO 7.45pm).
On Saturday, Higgins’ men then welcome H&W Welders to The Showgrounds in pre-season action (KO 1.30pm).
The contests will mark Coleraine’s second and third pre-season outings after a behind-closed-doors friendly in Portugal, with Higgins aiming to get his squad up to speed as soon as possible.
He said: “The most important thing this weekend is that the players get valuable minutes on the pitch.
“Our players have only played 45 minutes each so far in pre-season.
“It’ll be our second and third game in pre-season – that’s how we’re looking at it.
“Between both games we’ll use our squad as best as we can.”
The Bannsiders returned back home at the start of the week after spending seven days in Portugal for warm weather training.
Higgins hailed the benefits from spending a week together both on and off the pitch.
“It was fantastic, it really was,” he added.
“I thank the club for delivering on it. The facilities were top class, the hotel was top class, the food, the pitch, the weather was nice.
“It was a really brilliant week. The new players had a chance to build relationships and form friendships and come together.
“The likes of Jay Henderson, Conor McMenamin and Ben Doherty got to integrate very, very quickly.
“They’re great lads anyway, but I think it speeds up the process of settling in and it was invaluable in that sense.
“We managed to get a lot of good work done and physically we’re in a much better place than what we were before we went out there.”
Supporters can get tickets for the Larne game HERE.
Meanwhile, a cash gate will be in operation for the H&W Welders fixture; £5 adults and £1 concessions.