Glenavon 'a different proposition now' - Higgins

Coleraine manager Ruaidhri Higgins says Glenavon represent "a different proposition now" to earlier in the season as the sides prepare to meet in Friday night's Irish Premiership game, which will be broadcast live on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.

Coleraine sit second in the table, eight points behind leaders Larne, before their encounter with the Lurgan Blues at Ballycastle Road.

Glenavon remain rooted to the bottom, 11 points adrift of 11th-placed Carrick Rangers, despite notable home wins over Belfast sides Glentoran and Linfield in recent months.

The Bannsiders ran out 2-1 winners when the sides met in the league at Mourneview Park in August, with Higgins' team again getting the better of the Lurgan Blues in the reverse fixture in early November, this time on an emphatic 5-1 scoreline.

"He [Michael] has done a good job since he went in there. They made life very difficult for Glentoran at the weekend [losing 2-1], there was very little in that match.

"And they've recruited well – they've signed good players, they're now a different proposition to what they were earlier in the season

"It's an extremely dangerous game and one that we have to be fully focused on. If we don't approach it mentally in the right manner then you can slip up.

"But I hope we now have a group of players that are extremely professional and are ready to go."

Some of the managers in charge of part-time Premiership clubs have indicated that they believe switching games from Saturdays to Friday nights provides an advantage to their full-time counterparts.

Higgins has some sympathy with this argument but sees a range of benefits of playing some matches on a Friday evening.

"From speaking to people around the club here, financially, for the club, it seems to be better [Friday night games].

"There are positives and negatives to it but you look at the amount of people who play in Saturday leagues who are missing out coming here on a Saturday.

"From a negative point of view we would have a session less to prepare than what we would if it was a Saturday game, so you're losing that advantage.

"Instead of training four or five times you're training three or four times. So there's pros and cons to it.

"In my opinion, and not everyone will agree with my opinion, there's many reasons why it's a good thing and one or two why it's not."