In contrast to Coleraine, Linfield have been off colour, with the Blues managing just one win in 90 minutes in their last five games
Coleraine star Dylan Boyle has challenged the Bannsiders to stand up to defending champions Linfield at Windsor Park. The sides played out a thrilling 2-2 draw 10 days ago when Ruaidhri Higgins’ men came from 2-0 down at half-time.
That is the only game Coleraine have failed to win in their last seven – they have scored a whopping 31 goals in that time. Yet midfielder Boyle, 23, makes a case for the defence.
“It probably starts from the back. A couple of weeks before, we were shipping easy goals. Now we look a lot more solid, from the front the whole way to the back,” said Boyle, who was rested Tuesday night’s 7-1 hammering of Armagh City.
“I think that’s helping us too, in terms of attacking play. We are wining the ball higher up in our press. The turnovers are really helping us to punish teams at the other end.
“It (Armagh game) was a really convincing performance from the lads. I spoke to the gaffer on Monday, and a few of us were rested from the game and just trained on Tuesday.
“It was good to watch from the sidelines and see lads come and show just how good they are. I see that every day in training. The squad that we’ve got at the minute is brilliant,” added the Former Fleetwood Town man and Northern Ireland under-21 international.
In contrast to Coleraine, Linfield have been off colour, with the Blues managing just one win in 90 minutes in their last five games.
Manager David Healy was irate after Linfield scraped past H&W Welders on Tuesday night in the BetMcLean Cup in extra-time, accusing his men of taking their eye off the ball.
For Coleraine, Boyle believes lessons have been learned from that 2-2 draw with the reigning league champions last month.
“At our place here, probably first half, we didn’t stand up to it,” Boyle admitted. “Second half, we jinked a few things in the shape and came out second half and put it right up to them. We got a point and probably looked like we should have went on and got a bit more.
“When you go to Windsor, you know what you’re going to get. They are obviously going to come out in numbers and they are going to give us a really good test.”
Bannsiders boss Higgins is not happy that his in-form side now face a two week break until their next league game, away to Cliftonville. They hold a three point lead at the top of the table right now, but Glentoran, Larne and Linfield all have a couple of games in hand.
Higgins wants his team to make a statement at Windsor Park before the unplanned break.
“Both clubs, players and staff, will have learned an awful lot from the draw recently,” said the manager.
“But it’s a new game, different venue, surface, all those things. It’s something we are certainly excited about, try and showcase ourselves in a really positive manner.”
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