'Real excitement around Coleraine' - Higgins

Coleraine manager Ruaidhri Higgins said his side "are going into the season much better than we were last year" ahead of the new Irish Premiership campaign. The Bannsiders finished second last season, three points behind champions Larne but secured the Irish Cup for the first time since 2018. They have added Scot Jay Henderson and Northern Ireland international Conor McMenamin to their squad in the summer window so far with Ben Doherty also returning from Derry City and four players departing. "Absolutely, Larne are champions and deserve the respect," Higgins told BBC Sport NI when asked if it was Larne's league to lose. "But we feel like we are going into the season much better than we were last year. There is real excitement around and how we finished last season enhanced that. "We know there will be stiff competition this year, but we are confident we are going to have a good year. We finished second last year and won the Irish Cup so our target this year is to go one step further and win the league." Higgins will also have European football to factor in this season after the club qualified for the first time since 2018 and they will face Finnish side HJK Helsinki in the second qualifying round of the Uefa Conference League. "We are certainly going to go into it as underdogs, they are a big name in Finnish football and have big name players," Higgins added. "They are halfway through their season, but we have good preparation time. The ideal scenario is to keep the tie alive coming back [to Coleraine]. "As much as they will be the favourites, there is no reason why we can't cause an upset."