Warren Feeney looking forward to Coleraine clash despite Glentoran's growing injury list

​Summer arrival Fuad Sule missed Saturday’s stalemate with Dungannon Swifts at The Oval, as did Luke McCullough and Rhys Marshall while captain Marcus Kane was forced off after an hour.

It hasn’t stopped the Glens moving top of the Sports Direct Premiership table with Feeney’s men sitting one point clear of rivals Linfield having played one more game than the Blues.

They are currently enjoying an unbeaten run of six league matches, keeping four clean sheets in the process, and the former Northern Ireland international is expecting a response when Coleraine visit.

"It'll be a tough game,” he said. “They are a good side.

"Oran (Kearney) is very experienced and has them playing.

"It's one we will enjoy and we'll try to get people off the treatment table for it.

"It's a difficult one but we have to get on with it.

"We're trying to get to the bottom of it - is it training on astro and playing on grass or what? A lot of the injuries are knees and thighs.

"Luke wants to get out and at it but we have to make sure he's right. We have to dust them down and move on."

Feeney is looking to bounce back from last weekend’s draw as they look to extend their lead at the top ahead of Linfield’s trip to Loughgall on Saturday while defending champions Larne are also in action this evening when they host Carrick Rangers.

A lesson learned from Manchester United legend Sir Alex Ferguson has stayed with Feeney and he’s applying it to the current situation.

"At the end of the day the positive is that it was a point gained,” he added. “I was getting text messages saying ‘we’re top of the league’ and I just try to put it all to bed.

"Sir Alex Ferguson made a great statement when I was on a coaching course once and he said he always said to his coaches ‘keep me in the top-three with 10 games to go and I’ll win the league’, and he went and done that.

"That’s always in the back of my mind.

"There’s a long way to go and I’m not going to be too hard on them.

"We’re unbeaten in the last six games so we’ll move forward.”

Coleraine ended their winless league run of four games by beating Newry City 3-1 last time out with Andrew Mitchell grabbing the decisive third after his introduction from the bench.

A former Premiership Golden Boot winner, Mitchell has struggled with injuries in recent times but Kearney is happy to have him back and making an impact.

"It's important that we bring him back at his pace,” he said. “The key thing for us and the medical staff is that he hasn't missed a session since he did pre-season and his own pre-season.

"The signs are there and we're seeing as the weeks pass in training that he looks that yard sharper.

"We have to keep working him as hard and safely as possible to get him up to the level we all want him at."