Coleraine momentarily down to 10 men as Jamie Glackin is off the field of play receiving medical attention.

It's been a bright start to this game, with chances at either end.

First, Joel Cooper fires into the side side netting after escaping a static Glentoran defence before Jordan Jenkins is unable to find the target from a narrow angle under pressure from Coleraine keeper Ryan Schofield.

Glentoran spurn a good chance with their first foray forward after five minutes.

Jordan Stewart gets in behind Lyndon Kane and fires a low cross in front of the Coleraine goal.

Pat Hoban misses his connection but Liam Burt finds the side netting with his effort from a difficult angle.

Less than a minute played and Glentoran goalkeeper Andrew Mills is forced into a fine diving save, low to his right, to deny Jamie Glackin's goal-bound effort from just outside the box.

Coleraine's Joel Cooper gets us underway on a dry, cold night in east Belfast.

A big game for both teams, it heralds the start of a busy festive season as the race for the Gibson Cup hots up.

Let's hope we get a cracker tonight...

Coleraine manager Ruaidhri Higgins says his side are "excited" about tonight's Irish Premiership game against Glentoran, a match which will be streamed live on the BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website (19:45 GMT).

The Bannsiders sit top of the table ahead of the encounter at the Oval, with the Glens in fourth spot, 11 points adrift of the pacesetters with three games in hand over their opponents on Friday night.

The visitors to east Belfast have won their past three league games after suffering consecutive defeats to Cliftonville and Larne.

"Glentoran are at home so I'm sure they'll come out and have a right go," said Higgins.

"I think that's the only way they know and it should make for an open game. It's a game we're looking forward to and excited about.

"We just need to do the basics well. I'm sure it'll be a really difficult encounter."

Glentoran have picked up just two points from their past five league outings but that is not causing any complacency in the Coleraine camp.

"I know that Glentoran have recently had a difficult run of results but if you actually look at the performances against Cliftonville and Larne, in particular, they deserved to win both games and took just one point.

"So, if I was a Glentoran supporter, I would still be optimistic because of some of their performances.

"It would be different if they were getting beaten and deserved to be beaten - they haven't deserved the points total that they've got over the past few games.

"Three points would be very important if we could pick them up. It would be more daylight between us but we just have to try and treat the game in isolation and try and win the fixture that's in front of us."

Image source, Inph

Glentoran boss Declan Devine says his team must strive to "transform decent performances into points" as they prepare to host Coleraine at the Oval tonight (19:45 GMT) in a game that will be live on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website.

The Glens welcome the leaders to east Belfast hoping to end a run of five league games without a win as they look to keep pace with the Bannsiders and Larne at the top of the table.

Devine has been encouraged by his team's displays in draws with Bangor and Cliftonville and last week's defeat by Larne, but has asked for more from his side to help them get back to winning ways.

"I know what's going on behind the scenes, where we're trying to go and what we're trying to improve on. If we were getting battered with the ball and other teams were cutting us open, I'd be extremely worried, but I know the fine margins," he told BBC Sport NI.

"We have to strengthen in January, but we can't fall any further behind. There are a lot of points still to play for and a lot of teams to play.

"We have to get back to basics of putting games to bed and getting clean sheets and if we can do that, we have the quality and togetherness. We need to transform decent performances into points."

Image source, Inpho

Here is how the league table looks ahead of tonight's Irish Premiership game between Glentoran and Coleraine.

Image source, BBC Sport

Fourth-placed Glentoran welcome league leaders Coleraine to the Oval for a second meeting of the season.

The Glens came from behind to defeat the Bannsiders 2-1 at the Showgrounds back in September, thanks to two goals from Jordan Stewart.

Since then, Ruaidhri Higgins' side has opened an 11-point gap on tonight's hosts with home manager Declan Devine admitting they 'can't fall further behind' in the title race.

The Glentoran head coach makes two changes to the team which lost narrowly to Larne seven days ago.

Club captain Marcus Kane hasn't recovered from a knock picked up in the loss at Inver Park while Johnny Russell is relegated to the bench.

In their place come David Larmour and Jordan Jenkins, with James Singleton assuming the captain's armband.

The visitors' starting line-up shows two changes to the side which began last Friday night's defeat of Bangor as Jamie Glackin and Dylan Boyle return at the expense of Zane Okoro and Ronan Doherty, who are both named among the replacements.

Glentoran: Mills, Cooney, Thomson, Palmer, Hoban, Stewart, Burt, Kamara, Larmour, Singleton (c), Jenkins.

Subs: Crellin, Connolly, Pattinson, Ferris, Lindsay, Russell, Douglas.

Coleraine: Schofield, Kane (c), Jarvis, Boyle, Patching, Shevlin, Cooper, Ives, Glakin, Dunne, Stewart.

Subs: Harris, McGregor, Doherty, McGonigle, Okoro, McGrath, Watson.

Image source, BBC Sport

These two teams met at the Coleraine Showgrounds in September, with Glentoran inflicting a first league defeat of the season on the Bannsiders.

Kodi Lyons-Foster opened the scoring against his former side, but a second-half double from Jordan Stewart helped the Glens to take all three points.

Image source, Inpho

BBC iPlayer

You can now watch Glentoran v Coleraine on BBC iPlayer or on the BBC Sport website by clicking the play button at the top of this page.

Thomas Kane is joined on commentary by former Linfield and Ballymena United boss David Jeffrey.

Good evening and welcome to our live coverage of tonight's Irish Premiership game between Glentoran and Coleraine at the Oval.

Hosts Glentoran are out to end their five-game winless run in the league and will want a win this evening to stay in the title race.

League leaders Coleraine, meanwhile, are aiming to move three points clear of Larne, who play on Saturday, with a victory and maintain their own good run of form.

The game will be live on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website while we will also have live text commentary and in-play clips so you don't miss any of the action.

Enjoy!

Image source, Inpho