Coleraine re-sign Irish Cup winning defender Dunne

Defender Charles Dunne has re-joined Coleraine on a deal until the end of the 2027-28 season.

Dunne initially joined the Bannsiders in January 2025 and went on to play 55 times for the club.

He helped them win the Irish Cup last season before departing in the summer to "pursue other opportunities abroad".

The former Motherwell and St Mirren is now back at the Showgrounds and said that he "snapped their hand off to return" when the opportunity to do so materialised.

"The boys have been flying recently and doing so well, so long may it continue," he added.

Bannsiders boss Ruaidhri Higgins expressed his delight at being reunited with the experienced centre-back.

"Charles was very open, honest and transparent throughout the summer about his ambition to go abroad and you can't knock him for that.

"We always wanted to get him to re-sign and when you look at our group now, we only have two fit centre-backs in Rob Slevin and Cameron Stewart, with Aidan Wilson having an injury.

"One of those is also a loan, so we needed to protect ourselves and make sure we don't leave ourselves short in a key period of the season.

"To be able to add someone of Charles' quality is great. We know him, we know what he's about and what he brings to us on a daily basis."

The 33-year-old has been without a club since leaving Coleraine, but Higgins is hopeful he will be fit enough to feature for the Bannsiders soon.

"He will join us in training and his other work will be done with Junior Mendes (head of performance) until he's ready to go," Higgins explained.

"We haven't put a timeframe on it but he's a really fit boy, he's in fantastic condition and it won't take him long to get up to speed."