Confidence is high: Kearney

Oran Kearney wants his Coleraine side to keep their impressive run going when they entertain Dungannon Swifts this Friday night.
James McLaughlin scored the equaliser against Linfield. Picture by Andrew Paton/Press EyeJames McLaughlin scored the equaliser against Linfield. Picture by Andrew Paton/Press Eye
James McLaughlin scored the equaliser against Linfield. Picture by Andrew Paton/Press Eye

The Bannsiders are unbeaten at home this seasonand currently occupy third place in the table.

They have gone under the radar so far and Kearney is happy with that as long as they keep producing the results.

“We need to go out and make an impression on every game,” he told Times Sport.

“There was three points available on Saturday just like there will be on Friday night

“Confidence comes from results and performances like today add to that.

“The players will go away from this and know how far we have come and know the progress which has been made. But come Monday night there will be a line drawn under it and the focus will turn to Friday night.

“Dungannon embarrassed us up at their place early on this season, it was 4-0 and coul have been six!

“We know the firepower and the quality they have and we need to get our heads stright so we can produce another quality performance.

“The unbeaten run is becoming part of our team talk now. We have pride in it and it is something we want to maintain.

“We want to have an aura about this place so teams don’t want to make the trip up here.

“In years gone by teams maybe liked coming down here for a bit of a jolly.

“There’s lots of aspects that we use to try and make this a fortress, but the big thing is the performances and so far this season we’ve been really strong.

“Looking at Saturday’s game the minute they scored I wrote down ‘stay in the game’.

“What I wanted to see from us until the break was okay we didn’t want to go a goal down, but if we come in at 1-0 at the break you always have a chance of doing something in the game.

“The game last year we were 2-0 up only to be pegged back to 2-2 at half time, and then they went on to win it. We just didn’t manage that game properly. You can see now though the young players are that bit more experienced and they are managing games better. It’s really exciting for us going into the future.”

Meanwhile, Coleraine are running a Halloween themed night which will include competitions for all Primary School kids before this Friday night’s game against Dungannon. On the night, there will be face painting, Fancy Dress Competition and every child who attends the game with their parents will be entered in a draw to win a Coleraine FC kit. Free entry for Under-11s when accompanied by an adult.

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