Oran Kearney delighted to once again talk about in-form Matthew Shevlin

The 24-year-old hit a quickfire double for the Bannsiders at Solitude on Saturday to make it 21 goals for the campaign – just one shy of his total last season.

"He was frustrated at half-time as he felt everything was up around his neck...but he keeps working,” said Kearney after his side’s draw in north Belfast. "That's the good thing about him, he'll not down tools or feel sorry for himself.

"Up until 60-odd minutes it maybe hadn't been a good day for him from a team perspective.

"The majority of actions he had were generally good, it was just a frustrating half.

"To me that's the sign of a good striker.

"You have to have that mindset that you have to be ready to take your opportunities whenever they come along in the game.

"I just think Matthew has grown in all aspects in how he's viewed at the club and he took that responsibility on well.

"We speak about Matthew regularly and I’m delighted we keep speaking about him regularly.”

Coleraine are now unbeaten in their last 12 games in all competitions ahead of tonight’s visit of Carrick Rangers to The Showgrounds.

With the Bannsiders firmly in the hunt for the Gibson Cup, Kearney believes this year’s champions will be worthy winners whoever comes out on top.

"I've been about the league for a long time and every year we say this season has the hallmarks to be the best ever,” said the Coleraine manager. "It keeps doing that.

"And at the end of every year you wonder how it could get any tighter.

"But it keeps doing it.

"We've had two very tough games with Carrick already this season.

"They didn't play at the weekend either, which is not necessarily a worry of mine.

"But you're into that ‘three-game week’ scenario and they're coming into it fresh.

"Stuart (King, Carrick boss) has done a great job and he's signed well again in January.

"And we will need to be right at it if we're to get anything from the game.”