Coleraine manager Ruaidhri Higgins knows there’s high expectations on his side to achieve immediate success given their star-studded squad, but insists “a level of realism” is required as they look to challenge for major honours.

The Bannsiders haven’t won the Premiership since 1974, an effort which remains their sole Gibson Cup triumph, but many expect them to be competing at the summit against the likes of Linfield and Larne following a summer of impressive recruitment.

Joel Cooper, Kodi Lyons-Foster and Will Patching are amongst the headline names to arrive at The Showgrounds with Coleraine getting their campaign underway against the Inver Reds on Sunday.

Blues boss David Healy believes Higgins’ men “absolutely” start the season as title favourites and also insisted there’s “serious pressure” on both them and Glentoran considering the level of investment.

placeholder image — Coleraine manager Ruaidhri Higgins with owner Henry Ross. (Photo by Desmond Loughery/Pacemaker Press)

Coleraine are priced as third favourites with bookmakers behind Linfield and Larne, and while former Derry City chief Higgins knows everyone will be watching his side closely, he feels expectation levels have to be realistic.

"I’d much rather be involved in an ambitious club than one that isn’t,” said Higgins. “We’re delighted with the club we’ve joined as a group of staff.

"They’ve been so helpful both on and off the pitch.

"There is an expectation, but there also has to be a level of realism because we were so far cut adrift of Linfield last season...there’s a 30-point deficit which is a ridiculous number to be honest.

"There has to be an element of realism. Of course, over a period of time we want to become successful, but there’s a huge points deficit to make up.

"How quickly we can do that remains to be seen, but we’re certainly an ambitious club that wants to be successful over the next few years.

"Larne are a great example. They didn’t just become successful overnight, it took them a few years to win the league and then they retained it.

"We want to be successful as quickly as possible, but there’s no guarantee. New ideas, new staff, new players, things take a wee bit of time.

"We hope it won’t take time but the norm would be there’s a progression and it’s very much the start of a process for me.”

Alongside Coleraine, a whole host of Premiership clubs have significantly strengthened their squads ahead of the new campaign with ambition of competing for European football.

Higgins will be giving each team full respect and believes Northern Ireland’s top-flight will be hotly-contested.

"You don’t look at any fixture and think ‘there’s three points’,” he said. “Those days are gone...there’s too many good players throughout the league, too many good coaches and managers.

"There’s no gimmes within the league and we’ll treat every club with absolute respect. We’ve done nothing to turn our noses up at anybody.

"Momentum is important, but we’re also very aware it’s a marathon, a long year. We want to get off to the best possible start in front of our own supporters...we need to entice those people back.

"You can gauge success on winning trophies, but you can also gauge it by how much fans enjoy watching their team. We want to make the fans proud of what they are watching.”