Ben Doherty says talk of Coleraine being title favourites is something to be embraced as they prepare for Saturday’s clash at home to reigning champions Larne.

The top-two from last season do battle on the Ballycastle Road in a contest which is viewed by many as a meeting between two of the leading contenders to get their hands on the Gibson Cup come the final day of the campaign.

Coleraine, who are seeking their first league title since 1974, finished just three points behind the Invermen but further strengthened their squad in the summer as Doherty returned, alongside the captures of Jay Henderson, Conor McMenamin, Aidan Wilson, Rob Slevin and Conrad Hunt.

The Bannsiders started their campaign with a 3-1 victory at Dungannon Swifts last weekend but attention has now quickly turned to the visit of Gary Haveron’s side, who suffered a heartbreaking extra-time exit from the Europa League on Tuesday night.

placeholder image — Ben Doherty has opened up on his second spell at the Coleraine Showgrounds

"I'd say it's two teams that would fancy themselves to go all the way this year,” Doherty said of the showdown against his former club Larne.

"I'm sure Larne will have a strong team on the pitch, bearing in mind they are going through their European campaign, they've still got a squad up there with a lot of quality and a lot of strength and depth as well.

"They'll come down here on Saturday and I'm sure they'll be looking to put three points on the board as well.

“I'm expecting a good game and we're expecting a good battle, so we'll not be taking anything for granted.

“Whenever there's finance talk and all that's thrown about...that's the next thing that people expect from you is to win trophies.

"I think for us, we just have to embrace that now. I think now, with the squad that we've assembled here, we have to be big enough to embrace the challenge ahead of us and go one step further this year.”

Doherty managed to get himself on the scoresheet in the aforementioned triumph at Dungannon and he opened up on his return to the club after previously being on the books between 2019 to 2021.

He recapped: “I think just from the outside, obviously looking last year and having maybe a few people that I knew within the changing room, you could tell that the club was doing everything in the right way and the proper way. There was no cutting corners.

"Everything was done properly and there was no one that really had a bad word to say about how things were going around here.

"Obviously, before I came back, I did speak to a few people around the club, and there was nothing that was a negative swing on it.

"Everything was positive and I was told I would really enjoy being a part of it, and to be fair, that's all been upheld and I've really enjoyed it.

"Obviously, the position I found myself in at Derry City the past while, it was a no-brainer for me to make the move.

“It was just where I was making the move to, ad from speaking then to Ruaidhri Higgins and to Conor (Loughrey, assistant coach), I knew straight away where I wanted to be.”