There's a collective effort to improve results, says Coleraine midfielder Stephen Lowry as Bannsiders start Irish Cup bid with home tie against Cliftonville

Oran Kearney's men endured a poor end to 2023 after losing their last four Premiership fixtures in succession, which has brought discontent amongst a section of the club's support.The club released a statement on New Year's Eve in support of Kearney and called for unity after being ‘alarmed by the level of animosity’ towards the Coleraine chief.However, the men from the north coast will focus now on Irish Cup duty as they face Cliftonville for the third successive year in the competition.

Lowry lifted the famous old trophy with Linfield back in 2017 and acknowledged that Coleraine should relish going into tonight's game as underdogs.

"Looking ahead to 2024, there's a lot to be positive about. There's investment coming to the club and from our point of view, we know the supporters are frustrated with results and that's only natural," he said.

"It hasn't been good enough from us as a group of players and staff as we want to do better, Oran hasn't changed anything and I'm a firm believer in what he's trying to do.

"We will go into the game as underdogs but from our point of view, it's something we have to do better and we have to relish them coming here and thinking that they're going to win.

"We have to be up for a fight, we have to turn Coleraine back into a tough place to visit because teams are coming here now - and no disrespect to Loughgall - we should be beating them and it's not good enough.

"It'll be a tough game, they're going well but it's a good opportunity for us to start 2024 on a good note."

The Bannsiders have kept only four clean sheets in all competitions this season and Lowry remarked that they will need to be more difficult to beat.

Kearney could give debuts to Jack Scott and Rory Brown after the duo were signed as the January transfer window, but Jamie McGonigle will miss out after failing to obtain international clearance.

Lowry added: "Results haven't been as good as we would like them to be and it's up to us to turn that around as players when we cross that white line.

"Hopefully, I can contribute to some better results on the pitch and I think looking at the goals we are conceding, they are a bit soft and it's probably been a trait we've picked up this season.

"Any good teams I've played in have always been hard to beat and Coleraine teams of old have always been hard to beat.

"Although we are missing a lot of players, it is no excuse to concede goals like we are.

"It's up to us as a group of players to show a bit of character, to show we can go on and recover from this and I feel we have good enough players in the squad to turn it around.”