Gary Haveron insists Larne will 'keep fighting' with plenty still to play for and provides injury update

Having lost three on the trot to Crusaders, Linfield and Portadown, Haveron’s men looked set to get back to winning ways after Tiarnan O’Connor netted his second goal since arriving from H&W Welders last month, but David Toure struck in injury time as the Lurgan Blues salvaged a point.

A hectic fixture schedule, which includes playing 14 Premiership matches across February and March, continues with another crunch clash on Saturday as Larne welcome Dungannon Swifts to Inver Park.

Both teams are fighting for a top-six finish and European football in a competitive top-tier where only nine points separates third-placed Dungannon and Ballymena United in tenth.

Due to their involvement in the UEFA Conference League, weather and even a failed generator at The Oval, Larne still have matches in hand over their nearest rivals – two on Glentoran, three on Dungannon and four on Crusaders – and Haveron insists there’s plenty to fight for.

"For all said and done, if we get three points on Saturday we go level with them (Dungannon) with three games in hand,” he told the club’s media channel. “That's the reality of how tight it is up there.

"We'll recover the best we can and three points would be massive for us...if we can draw level with them with games in hand it puts us in a good position with loads to play for.

"If we can get a few boys back...Cian (Bolger) probably wasn't right to start tonight but Saturday might be a different story, Paul (O’Neill) wasn't quite ready to start but Saturday might be different.

"We'll have to assess Dylan (Sloan) to see where he's at and Jordan (McEneff) was more of a precautionary one.

"Saturday is massive for us and we have to roll our sleeves up, keep fighting, keep digging in and keep believing that we're more than capable of beating anyone in the division."

Haveron welcomed club captain Bolger back off the bench for the first time since January in Tuesday’s draw while Paul O’Neill and Andy Ryan both returned having missed Larne’s previous outing at Portadown.

One player that hasn’t featured so far in 2025 is Northern Ireland youth international Matty Lusty, who played a key role in Larne’s UEFA Conference League qualification, with the 21-year-old striker suffering from illness.

Lusty impressed during a loan spell with Dungannon last term but there’s still no timeline for his return to action.

"There's still not much change in Matty...it was illness and it has turned into Reactive arthritis, God love the kid,” added Haveron. “It's a frustrating spell for him because he has worked so hard and was in such good form.

"He gives you pace to stretch games and we've missed him a bit.

"Mark (Randall) was a wee bit easier today...he has a bulging disk in his back and it has flared up so it has been a bit of a problem.”