Lee Lynch insists Coleraine 'want to grow' every year as they get ready for BetMcLean Cup final showdown

The Bannsiders led 2-0 with little more than 15 minutes remaining but Cliftonville staged a miraculous comeback to take the trophy in extra-time.

However, 12 months on, Lynch is hoping that his experience and the hurt of last year will combine to bring the cup back to The Showgrounds for a third time in the club’s history.

"Coleraine obviously felt that they should have won it last year,” he said.

“I watched that game and they were excellent in it and it was a typical cup final game, it was crazy.

“We will have the bit between our teeth going into the game and I'm delighted to be a part of it and hopefully get the boys over the line.

“The fans want to see it as well, it's great for the club by reaching back to back cup finals.

"Having senior players like myself in every team helps.

“They'll have definitely learnt from last year's cup final.

“Obviously they were excellent, 2-0 up at the time, but cup finals can go that way.

“Oran's experienced enough and we'll be going into the final with a game plan.

“Hopefully, we can implement it well and do well on the day.”

Lynch joined the Bannsiders in the summer from Larne and believes the club is well equipped to ‘fight on all fronts’ moving forward in the future.

"With the way we're going now with the club we want to be fighting on all fronts for every competition,” the Limerick native added.

“This is just a first one for us as we've a lot of new players in the door.

“Everyone has signed long term contracts which is positive for everyone so every year we're going to try and grow, try and win a league, try and win an Irish Cup, try win a League Cup so hopefully we can do that this weekend.

"We all have a goal, the club has a goal, the owners have a goal – we want to be fighting on all fronts in all competitions.

“We're not just here to finish fourth or wherever we do end up finishing

“We're still in the mix at the moment, we're in a League Cup final, we lost to Cliftonville on penalties in the Irish Cup.

“We definitely want to strive to win trophies – I haven't come here not to win trophies.

"We'll keep on growing, year on year.”

The two sides met just under two weeks ago as the Blues came out on top with a 2-0 scoreline.

However, Lynch argued that this will not have a say in Sunday’s showdown.

"I thought we had a lot of chances in the first half to score and to go ahead,” he continued.

“Obviously the penalty hit us hard but I think we reacted very well to it.

“But we'll be going into the final full of confidence, I think we've got a good team and we're set up well to do well in cup finals or in play-offs.

“I think with our squad and the way we like to play we'll be going into the game full of confidence.”