Larne aim to get back to winning ways in the league after a ‘blip’ against Dungannon Swifts, says new Inver Park boss Gary Haveron.
Hoping to spoil Haveron’s party is Jim Magilton and his Cliftonville team, who play host to Larne this afternoon (3pm)
The 44-year-old was officially given the role of Larne manager on Wednesday after doing a magnificent job as interim manager following Nathan Rooney’s sacking.
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It was the second time Haveron had to step up after it emerged last season that Rooney did not possess the required ProLicence to manage in Europe, taking Larne to a second-place finish behind Champions Linfield.
He was asked to step in again at the start of this season when Larne’s new owners dispensed with Rooney’s service after one league game.
Haveron won the NIFWA Manager of the Month award for September after steering his team to five straight wins without conceding a single goal.
However, the Inverman followed that with 3-1 defeat to Dungannon at Stangmore Park, their last Sports Direct Premiership fixture before today’s encounter.
A 7-3 win over Dergview in the League Cup helped Larne get over the loss, and Haveron knows it will not be easy to take maximum points from North Belfast this afternoon.
“We’ve been there once already this season and left points”, said the Larne manager, referring to the 1-1 draw at Solitude in August.
“It was a good game but Benji (Magee) missed a penalty for us with ten minutes left, and we had Dan Bent sent off in added time.
“I’m expecting a good game today as well. Cliftonville like to play football, and so do we, so it should be another entertaining encounter.
“We’ve been in good form bar the defeat to Dungannon, which I thought was just a blip.
“It was a blustery day down there, Dungannon coped with the elements better than we did and were good value for the win on the day.
“We dusted ourselves down and went down to Dergview, and I went quite strong with my team selection.
“We scored some good goals and I was pleased with the performance, training has been good this week and the boys are all focused.
“We have no new injuries, Andy Ryan and Dylan Sloan are still out and we hope to have them back sometime in November, Leroy Millar is back and we are managing his minutes as he gets stronger after his long lay-off.”
Larne currently trail league leaders Coleraine by three points with a game in hand, while today’s opponents are 10th with eleven points from nine games.
The Reds have been inconsistent this term, as underlined by recent results.
After beating Glenavon (3-1), Carrick Rangers (2-1) and Ballymena United (3-2) in quick succession, Magilton’s team suffered back-to-back 2-1 defeats to Dungannon Swifts and, most recently, Portadown.
There are no reports of new injuries or suspensions from the Solitude camp, but Like Conlan is still unavailable through injury.
