Kearney is '˜more than happy' with his squad

Coleraine boss Oran Kearney is delighted with the acquisition of former Portadown striker Gary Twigg.

The Bannsiders boss lost Howard Beverland and John Watt from his squad in the summer.

Kearney though has recruited well bringing in defender Gareth McConaghie and marksman Gary Twigg to bolster his talented young squad.

“I’m really happy where we are both fitness and squad wise,” siad the Coleraine manager.

“There’s no point doing what we have been doing for the last couple of seasons to go and rip it all to shreads.

“There’s other teams out there who are making six, seven or eight signings this summer.

“Thankfully we’re not that club this year, and it’s a good sign that we’re not that club this year.

“We’re not a club in transition, we’re a club that’s brought though a lot of talented young players who are growing in stature with every game.

“The important thing for us is to continue to invest time, energy, effort and coaching into them and not going and seeking people from all over the country.

“As I say we’re happy where we are, but I’ve told the players we have to raise the bar again this season.

“We’ve brought in Gary as we felt we wanted to add more goals to the team.

“When you looked at the table last year we were about 15 or 20 goals behind the other teams.

“Where do you get those goals from? Well I think Gary is a perfect player to get those goals for us.

“He’s excited by the challenge, he knows we’re a young fresh side.

“Gary has a serious knack of scoring goals and he has done all his career.

“Goals are so important, they win you games.

“He’s 32 now and he has all that experience and guile, and all those wee things you can’t coach.

“We also needed a centre half after Howard left and Gareth fits the bill.

“Both lads have done really well so far, Gary has got himself amongst the goals already.

“Gareth has all the attributes to be a top player in this league, he’s technically good and is a great passer.

“I’m sure he will have a few wee moments in his first few games as he gets back up to speed at playing at this level.

“At this level you have to be cute about things as you’re playing against top players, but I’ve no doubt he will get there.”