Dean Shiels puts friendship on hold for 90 minutes with mouthwatering clash in the offing

A picture of Coleraine boss Dean Shiels
-Credit: (Image: INPHO/PhilipMagowan)


Dean Shiels says Coleraine will show Linfield the utmost respect this afternoon but he is hoping to send his good friend David Healy back home with nothing to show from his trip to The Showgrounds.

The Bannsiders can move within a point of the league leaders with victory over them today. The Blues currently lead the way at the top of the Irish Premiership as they bid to wrestle the Gibson Cup back from Larne.

It might be two years since Linfield were last crowned league champions, but Shiels hailed the job his former international teammate has done at Windsor Park.

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"David has been a legend throughout his playing career, for what he did for Northern Ireland football," said the Coleraine boss.

"He's reached a level at Linfield where he's won multiple league titles, multiple trophies and he's a massive icon in the game here and he deserves everyone's respect.

"I think he's smart, I think he knows the game and I think you can see that with his level of consistency.

"He had a consistency throughout his career where he played at a high level for a long period of time and now he's been so consistent with Linfield over a period of time, always challenging for the major trophies.

"He works hard and it's in his blood, the game, he loves the game and you can see that by his passion for the game

"He's done an unbelievable job at Linfield and I enjoy his company and I'll enjoy it better if we can beat them.

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"He's a great person as well, he's one of the people in the game that I would trust quite highly and it's always nice to see him. We'll bring him down and we'll show him respect but not too much though."

The Blues left it to the 97th minute to finally see off Carrick Rangers last Saturday and Shiels says Coleraine have to be wary of the attacking threat Linfield possess.

"They're obviously in really good form, they're top of the league and they've got so many attacking threats and options," he said,

"They've possibly got the best attacking players in the league and they can hurt you at any minute.

"You can try and stop Cooper and then Millar pops up and Fitzpatrick and Allen, they've got loads of attacking options.

"You have to have your concentration levels and focus out of possession for the whole game because they can hurt you.

"We're looking forward to it. It's a home fixture and the crowd will be a big factor in that, hopefully they can get behind us and they can try and push the team on to get something from it."

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