He will bump into a few familiar faces whilst he’s on Northern Ireland’s north coast – but it will all go ‘out the window’ for Trevor Carson on the referee’s whistle.
The Motherwell keeper is back home briefly as the Well get ready for a Europa League second round qualifier with Coleraine. Stephen Robinson’s side beat another Northern Irish side in Glentoran to reach this stage.
They face a Coleraine side managed by former St Mirren manager Oran Kearney. The Bannsiders pulled off one of their finest results to reach this round, beating Maribor away in qualifying round one.
Carson knows a few faces in the Coleraine dressing room and he’s played at the Showgrounds on numerous occasions. But that will all be put to the back of his mind as the Fir Park outfit look for a brilliant third qualifying round place.
“Playing Glentoran sort of gives us a feel for what to expect,” said Carson. “It’ll be tough, they have a good manager in Oran. You’ve got to be up for the battle and I think we showed on Saturday we can roll our sleeves up and do the dirty side.
No old pals act for Trevor Carson when Well take to the field. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
“It’s massive. For the club to progress in Europe is huge. We are all aware of that but we are well prepared. The gaffer says we come here as slight favourites so we have to take that.
“The Irish league is a small place, everybody knows everybody. I’ve played with a few and against a few growing up but that all goes out the window once the whistle goes.
“We are here to do a job and get into the next round. We know exactly what we need to do to win the game.”