Bannsiders braced for in-form Swifts test

Coleraine return to The Showgrounds on Saturday afternoon as they prepare to host an in-form Dungannon Swifts side in the Sports Direct Premiership.

Both sides head into the fixture on the back of impressive wins last weekend. The Bannsiders produced a strong performance to see off Ballymena United 3-1 at the Ballymena Showgrounds, while Dungannon stunned Glentoran with a second-half comeback at Stangmore Park to win by the same score line, Ruadhri Higgins said: "It was a bit doom and gloom the week before but we responded brilliantly and we played extremely well for long periods of the game.

Reflecting on his team’s display, Higgins said he was pleased with the response after a disappointing result the previous week, praising the manner in which his players controlled long periods of the game and showed character to bounce back. He added that the focus remains on consistency rather than league position at this stage of the season:

"It’s not overly about where you are now on the table -it’s about trying to pick up points, bring good performances and we’ll start worrying about the league table at the back end of the season -but for now it’s about winning as many games as we can and putting in as many good performances as we can"

Looking ahead to tomorrow’s match, Higgins expects an exciting, competitive contest between two teams who both like to get on the front foot and play positive football. He acknowledged the challenge Dungannon will pose but called on his players and supporters alike to rise to the occasion at The Showgrounds: 

"I think it’s going to be a really exciting game because it’s two teams that try and play, principle-wise we would be the same -both aggressive in how we go after teams and we both like to play some good stuff - so I think it’ll be a really good game of football.”

“We’ll need everybody in the ground because there’s going to be periods when we’re up against it and that’s when we need our supporters out behind us"