IRISH CUP FINAL: Haughey wary of former Glenavon forward

The Blues have already lifted the League title and County Antrim Shield this season and Haughey says everyone in David Healy’s squad wants to see out the season in style.

“No one wants a great season to finish on a flat note but that’s not in our thinking,” added Haughey.

“The league and Cup are our bread and butter, it’s what we put the hard work in for. We know how good a player Eoin Bradley is from last year’s final and we will do our homework on him.

“Coleraine have a good mix of youth and experience and it will be a very tough game as Cup finals usually are.

“I think it’s a bit hard to believe that we could go on a run of 40 points out of a possible 42 in the league but we just took it game by game and no one gave up hope.

“There was always the hope that Crusaders would slip up somewhere and fortunately for us that happened.

“I think whenever we slipped up it was tough to take, but the confidence and determination was still there and it comes from the manager too.

“He demands we have that mentality and he stressed the importance of us wining our games and asking a question of Crusaders. And thankfully we got the job done.

And after claiming two winners medals so far this season, the defender says the Blues are hungry for more.

“Hopefully we can get more winners’ medals,” he said.

“Every game at Linfield is a must-win and if that is not happening the manager will take most of the criticism.

“In the middle of last season we did hit a difficult time and losing both the County Antrim Shield and Irish Cup finals left a bitter taste.

“But the manager always believed we had it within us to get over the line in the big games and it was great to enjoy more success this season for both him and ourselves.”

And the former Glenavon defender was full of praise for his manager Healy and says the former Northern Ireland international has shown his true worth after a few troubled spells during his time at Windsor Park.

“I know David is a manager learning his trade, but his career in England and Scotland means he brings that professionalism with him and there’s a lot of attention to detail in terms of the preparation for games and recovery, both physical and mental.

“He works on shapes and tactics and although a few people might have doubted him as a manager, they will take a different view now.

“He’s proved he can win a league title and, while we will enjoy it, we want to keep winning.

“We are really looking forward to the Final and we know it will be tough against a good Coleraine side but we are a determined bunch and we want to get our hands on another trophy and we will do our best to get the job done,” added Haughey.