Finishing the season with European football would be a phenomenal achievement, says Coleraine captain Stephen O'Donnell who warns there is still a mammoth amount of work to do between now and the play-offs

The Bannsiders secured their top-six status on Tuesday night after Carrick Rangers' defeat to Linfield, meaning they will be guaranteed to be involved in the end-of-season European play-offs.

Oran Kearney's side have endured an inconsistent run of results this season - including going seven games without a Premiership win - but they quickly regrouped to pick up enough points to secure a top-six berth.

They have also recently benefited from outside investment in the hope of obtaining full-time status for the start of next season.

With that in mind, O'Donnell says the financial reward and prestige of playing in Europe would be a fine reward for everyone connected to the club.

"If we could go on and secure European football, and obviously it's a big if as you'll have to beat two other top six teams who have had good seasons, but from where we're coming from to achieve that goal would be phenomenal, it really would," he said.

"It would say a lot about the changing room and the character. We had a lot of criticism from outside the club but to be able to go and do something like that would be unbelievable, and it would be a really strong finish to the season.

"It would be nice for the fans, the owners and everyone involved with the club, who have been working so hard ahead of the changes for next season and it would be a nice caveat to set that up.

"Hopefully we can do it but there's a mammoth amount of work to do between now and then before it's a realistic possibility."

Coleraine commence their post-split schedule with the visit of Cliftonville to the Ballycastle Road this afternoon, with the Reds knowing one more positive result will gain automatic European qualification.

O’Donnell – who has recently returned to the starting line-up following injury – is hoping the Bannsiders can prolong their five-match unbeaten run ahead of the crunch play-off fixtures.

"During the winless run there was a lot of criticism from outside the changing room,” he stated.

"There was an arrogance from some other clubs thinking they could come and turn us over.

"Alright we weren't in the strongest position and we didn't stand up and get the results or whatever, but now we're at the stage where we are looking like the team we want to be again.

"There's definitely a pride in reaching the top six and the goals we set ourselves, a lot of that comes from players getting hungry again, players getting back to fitness and the signings in January. With all that mixed together Oran has set it up nicely for us to kick on.

"There's definitely a sense of pride and we want to kick on and get a couple of big results.

"It was tough being out because you want to help with your voice and you want to be in the trenches with the boys, you're limited in what you can do.

"Football is a really easy game when you're standing watching, but for me it was tough to stand and watch and then try and motivate and galvanise people without actually being able to get out there with them.”