Coleraine manager Ruaidhri Higgins said “a worry for me is if we do not move to summer football, then it is never going to improve” after his side’s 8-0 aggregate defeat by HJK Helsinki ended their Uefa Conference League qualifying hopes.

HJK had a comfortable five-goal lead after the first leg and, at Inver Park, displayed more ruthlessness in front of goal to register a 3-0 win.

Coleraine are the third Irish Premiership team to bow out of the Conference League qualifiers after Linfield and Glentoran exited in the first round, with Larne the only Northern Irish side who still have a chance of securing a European group stage spot this season.

The Irish Premiership campaign currently takes place over the more traditional months of August to early May, but Higgins believes a switch to summer football would benefit the league.

“I’ve been a big believer in summer football,” Higgins told BBC Sport NI after the game.

“I have to be honest, I think that to stop these kinds of results, to help our teams in Europe and we are potentially going to lose a European place, we have to change that.

“And how do you change it? You have to be more matched up and in better condition for this level of game going forward. There is a worry for me that if we don’t move to summer football, then it’s never ever going to improve. We need every advantage that we can get.”