Larne manager Gary Haveron insists experience helped pull the Inver Reds through a tricky period after they returned to winning ways with a 2-0 Premiership triumph over Linfield.

Haveron’s men arrived at Windsor Park on the back of suffering consecutive defeats to Coleraine – an Irish Cup semi-final exit was followed by a 4-1 league loss on Tuesday evening.

Matty Lusty showed composure to settle any potential Larne nerves on Saturday afternoon, rounding goalkeeper David Walsh before slotting into an empty net after just eight minutes.

However, the visitors would have to wait for over an hour to seal maximum points against a much-changed Linfield side – Matt Ridley’s powerful header securing victory.

placeholder image — Larne's Matthew Ridley celebrates his goal. (Photo by David Maginnis/Pacemaker Press)

Having kicked off two hours before nearest title rivals Glentoran, Larne briefly moved six points clear at the summit, but their advantage was then reduced to three once again after Declan Devine’s side defeated Dungannon Swifts 5-0 at The Oval.

Larne have set the Premiership pace for a large majority of this term and are looking to secure a third Gibson Cup crown across the past four seasons.

A host of stars, including the likes of Rohan Ferguson, Tomas Cosgrove and Leroy Millar, have played a key role in what has been a golden period of success for Larne, and Haveron insists that experience has proved crucial.

"Yeah (everyone stayed calm after recent results), I think it helps that you've got a lot of experienced campaigners in there,” he said. "The majority of the group is still the group that went back-to-back and obviously played in Europe, so there's no pressure and no expectation.

"I thought they handled it really well today in the main.

"I thought we were a wee bit off the pace in the first half. The changes we made, I thought Ronan Doherty really came into the game and done really well.

"He gave us that extra little bit of emphasis of getting higher up the pitch. The boys dealt with it really well today and I'm really proud of them.

"It was all about getting three points today.

"I fully expected the other teams to win their games, so it was really, really important that we got our three points.

"Obviously, our game was meant to be at 5:30pm, it was brought forward to 1pm, which I prefer because you'd rather get that result in the locker so you know what you're facing.

"We posted our three points, what they do or don't do, that's up to them. I fully expected them both to win.

“It’s really, really hard to come here to Windsor and get the result, but I'm delighted that we did.”

Larne’s Irish Cup semi-final against the Bannsiders went to extra-time while they played for an hour with 10 men on Tuesday night after Dan Bent was shown a straight red card.

Haveron will welcome six days of recovery and preparation before travelling to The Oval on Friday night for what could prove to be a title decider.

"It's been a tough week, our boys have played so much football,” he added. “They looked tired in spells.

"Sean Graham was sick, Jordan McEneff was sick, we're missing Leroy Millar with an injury, Dylan Sloan dropped out yesterday with an injury, Dan Bent was suspended.

"We were literally patching people up to put them out there today with sickness, but we've got a full week to recover now.

"To play 120 minutes last Saturday, having to go 60 minutes with 10 men (on Tuesday), it was a big ask for the players and I thought they dug in and showed real good character and resilience.”