'A lot of people can see the development in him' - Gary Haveron hopeful Larne youngster can make Irish League impact after fine pre-season form
Gary Haveron hopes young Larne star Matty Lusty can have an Irish League impact in the upcoming campaign after continuing his fine pre-season form by scoring twice in Saturday’s 3-2 defeat to Rangers B.
The 21-year-old signed a three-year contract extension with the Inver Reds earlier this month after impressing during a loan spell at Dungannon Swifts last season, netting 17 goals in 27 appearances across competitions despite his campaign being hampered by an injury sustained against Glentoran in December which kept him sidelined for four months.
Lusty opened the scoring after only four minutes before following it up with another moments later against a youthful ‘Gers side that included former Irish League youngsters Mason Munn, Callum Burnside and Blaine McClure, who converted from the penalty spot.
"Matty's been very sharp throughout pre-season and even physically I think a lot of people can see the development in him and how much he has dedicated to pushing forward and making sure that he makes a big impact for Larne this season,” first team coach Haveron told the club’s media channel. “We hope he does because he has certainly started well in pre-season.
"The first half-hour there was a lot of what we wanted to see in pushing forward and being aggressive. It was really important we got another game in between the European ties. It was a really good workout.”
Larne will have a keen interest in Tuesday’s UEFA Conference League second qualifying round clash in Malta between Hamrun Spartans and FC Ballkani with the winner set to face Tiernan Lynch’s side next month.
With the first leg scheduled for August 8, Larne’s preparation time will be limited for their third-round opposition, but Haveron says they’re doing everything possible to be ready.
"You have to prepare for both...we're trying to do as much prep work on both clubs as we can,” he added. “A lot of things can be done on watching footage and everything else, but it can be incredibly difficult until the reality of when you're actually up against them.
"We'll get eyes on them this week and someone from the club will go out and watch that game to see what they're about. The Ballkani team is changed from the one we faced last year and they've had a lot of turnover of players.
"The Maltese team we don't know so much about but it's our job to make sure the boys are prepared and we have a game plan for either team."
Victory over two legs would put Larne one step away from creating Irish League history by becoming the first side to secure their spot in the group stages of European football and Haveron admits that remains the club’s big ambition.
"Europe is key for so many clubs and we're all vying for the European spots,” he said. “Financially it helps any club and we haven't changed in our ambition in wanting to be the first team to get group stages - that's always been at the forefront of everything we wanted to achieve in Europe.
"We wanted to go them steps further to show we weren't only good enough to win Irish Leagues but that we could do damage in Europe and be competitive. That’s still very much our ambition and what we'll be aiming to do over the next couple of weeks."