Oran Kearney knows his Coleraine side want to make more Irish Cup memories

The Bannsiders last lifted the famous competition back in 2018 – when they defeated today’s opponents Cliftonville in the final – but they have been unable to reach the showpiece decider since.

However, with a chance of lifting silverware and playing in Europe up for grabs for winning the trophy, Kearney remarked that his players knows what is at stake if they can make it to the final in May.

“The players are well aware of how important the Irish Cup is both for the club and them personally,” he added. “Nobody wants to watch it on the television or thinking they wish it was them that was getting off the bus and onto the pitch.

“The players are under no illusions and they want it as much as everyone else.

“We will look forward to it.

"Those are the games you want to be a part of.

"And the Irish Cup has been both good and bad to us.

"We won it back in 2018.

"And every passing year it seems longer and longer and you don’t want it to be like that.”

Kearney’s men are currently on a 14-match unbeaten run in all competitions – which includes a draw and a penalty shoot-out win in the BetMcLean Cup against the Reds.

That run of results means Coleraine are firmly in the hunt for the Gibson Cup.

As well as reaching their third successive BetMcLean Cup final.

“We will go there in a positive mood,” Kearney continued. “It’s a break from the league.

"We will park it for 14 days and all focus will turn to that game on Saturday afternoon.

“We had a tough last week with three games.

"We have a few aches and pains.

"But we will sit down and got a good week’s training under our belts.

"You want to be in it and the mix.

"We had a good cup win and a draw there recently so we will give it a rattle.

“People talk about ‘x, y, and z’ and unbeaten runs and everything that goes with it, but there’s nothing to talk about unless you pick up victories.

“All we can control is what happens on the pitch and trying to earn positive results which we have.”