Coleraine to play Garvagh this Friday

Published Date: 23 June 2009

By Steven Crawford

THE countdown for the new season begins in earnest this Friday night as Coleraine take on Garvagh in their annual charity fundraiser.

The game at Clyde Park gets underway at 7.30pm and Bannsiders boss David Platt is confident of having several new faces in the Coleraine line up.

Speculation was rife last week that Platt had pulled off a major coup by landing striker Rory Patterson.

The Strabane man has played the most of his career in England and is the record goal scorer for Unibond Premier League side FC United. Platt though remained tight lipped on Monday only saying that several deals were due to be finalised this week.

"Several deals are due to be completed this week I'm just waiting on the nod from the IFA," he said."Until they are confirmed though I don't want to mention any names. It's fair to say though that they should feature in this Friday night's friendly along with the current squad.

"It's been hard work but we are getting there. There's not a lot of movement in the league as a whole, but I am determined to bring in the right players to Coleraine."

Platt revealed that he has completed his first transfer of the summer after finalising a deal to bring Limavady defender Aaron Canning to The Showgrounds.

Platt said: "I've known of Aaron for about four years now. He's only 17 but he played around 30 games for Limavady's first team last year.

"He can play in a number of positions and will be playing in the Milk Cup this summer, where he'll likely be captaining the Co. Londonderry team.

"He's a young player with lots of potential and he should be challenging for a place in the squad at the start of the season."