Tiernan Lynch not paying any attention to outside title race noise as Larne prepare to resume campaign against Ballymena United

Tiernan Lynch’s men have enjoyed a rare break since their goalless draw against Linfield on March 7, during which time their lead at the top remained at six points after nearest competitors Cliftonville could only draw with rivals Crusaders earlier this week.

With seven games to go, there is no doubting that the Inver Park outfit are in pole position to win a first-ever top-flight crown having only lost four of 31 matches, but Lynch is leaving title talk up to others while his squad remain focused on the job at hand.

"We're looking at Ballymena and that's how this team operates,” he told Larne’s club media channel. “They don't get carried away with anything they've achieved up to now because we're well aware that we haven't achieved anything yet and there's a huge amount of football still to be played.

"We let others do whatever talking they want to do and we get ourselves ready for Ballymena."

While Larne haven’t lost since their opening fixture of 2023 against Cliftonville at Solitude and are enjoying a two-month unbeaten run, you have to go back to January 14 for Ballymena’s last league win.

Their last Premiership success on the road was a 2-0 triumph over Carrick Rangers in November and only Dungannon Swifts have scored fewer away goals (8) than the Sky Blues (11) this term.

However, David Jeffrey will be reminding his team about last season’s win at the same venue when a David Parkhouse brace and Leroy Millar penalty – who is now starring for the opposition – secured a 3-1 triumph.

Tonight’s encounter also acts as a dress rehearsal for the upcoming Samuel Gelston’s Whiskey Irish Cup semi-final clash between the two sides at the end of this month and despite the current statistical differences between the pair, Lynch is expecting a tough test.

"Ballymena are a really difficult team to play against,” he added. “They've got (Davy) McDaid and were scoring goals so it's one we have to be at our very best no doubt to get something from.”