Lyndon Kane delighted to be back as Coleraine captain eyes positive result against Larne at Inver Park

The full-back made a return to the Bannsiders' squad in last weekend's 4-1 home win against Dungannon Swifts, before sitting out in the BetMcLean Cup exit to Crusaders on Tuesday night.

Kane, who has made more than 300 appearances for his hometown club, acknowledged he isn't a good watcher of games as the men from the north coast aim to make it a hat-trick of successive Premiership victories.

He said: "It's just a relief being back.

"I was out for nine weeks and the injury was probably eleven weeks and then I played another two games with the injury.

"I got a scan and an injection and I got to the bottom of the problem. I've done a lot of hard work, a lot of rehab and I spent a lot of time in the gym which is hard.

"When you come back on Saturday, it makes you appreciate all the hard work you've put in and you realise it's all worth it.

"I'm delighted to be back and I'm the worst watcher of football. I could watch football all day but when it's my team and I know I should be playing, I'm the worst in the world for it.

"I feel like I'm contributing to the group and hopefully I stay fit for as long as possible and kick on now.

"I hate missing games, I missed nine games so I've nine games to make up on to help the team."

The win against the Swifts saw Matthew Shevlin score a hat-trick, with the striker also netting against the Crues on Tuesday.

The ex-Linfield ace is up to 13 goals for the campaign in all competitions and Kane believes the transition to full-time football is paying dividends for his team-mate.

"Shevy's quality and I banter with him all the time about different things,” he explained.

"His goal record speaks for itself and he's sitting better than a goal every two games during his time at Coleraine.

"That's where he and his career has come on and I think a lot of people can see that full-time football has really helped him.

"He's probably got a lot stronger and he's working a lot more on his finishing and stuff like that.

"I think we've probably switched up in the last couple of weeks where we've realised we've got Shevy up there.

"It means we are playing to his strengths, not all the time, but try to use him as much as possible because he's a handful.

"I wouldn't want to mark him every week and that's the long and short of it.”

Larne come into the contest after Thursday night’s narrow loss to St Gallen in the Conference League but Kane says the Inver Reds have enough strength in depth to concentrate on both fronts.

"They've brought players in to prepare for being in an extra competition than everyone else,” he added.

"Larne probably sit with two starting eleven's and whilst they have a few injuries and everything else, you're hoping to catch them cold after their game on Thursday night.

"It's up to us to go there, set a tempo and lay out our own game.”