Gary Haveron offers injury update on Larne's crucial attacking trio ahead of busy schedule

Ryan secured the Premiership’s Golden Boot last term after scoring 24 goals in 32 league appearances as the Inver Reds successfully defended their Gibson Cup crown and was once again the hero during their historic run to the UEFA Conference League, netting a memorable hat-trick in a play-off triumph against Lincoln Red Imps.

The 30-year-old was only able to play the final two minutes in Tuesday’s BetMcLean Cup semi-final extra-time defeat to Cliftonville, thrown on for the closing stages as Larne chased an equaliser after Destiny Ojo’s late header, and missed a Premiership clash against the same opposition a matter of days earlier.

He has scored five league goals this term, the last of which came from the penalty spot in a 2-0 November win over Glentoran, and his absence has been further compounded by the fact Matty Lusty and Paul O’Neill have also been out of action.

Lusty has missed Larne’s last three matches while O’Neill hasn’t featured since a Conference League defeat to Dinamo Minsk in Azerbaijan, but Haveron is hopeful all three attackers could be available for Saturday’s trip to The Oval.

"Andy was good enough to go on the bench on Tuesday but it was a last resort to get him on the pitch to be honest,” Haveron told the club’s media channel. “If it had gone to penalties I would have got Andy on the pitch and we had to get him on a couple of minutes earlier.

"It was more a case of protecting him a little bit. At that stage of the game going up there as a single striker probably wasn't the best thing for him at that moment in time so we looked to protect him because he's such a big player for us over the course of the season.

"We're going to need Andy firing on all cylinders so not risking him was probably a big call. It was for his own good.

"Matty Lusty has been sick but hopefully will be back and Paul O'Neill has been back doing light training.

"We do need a striker out on the pitch and it's difficult, but the boys who were asked to come in and do a job did a brilliant job and worked their socks off."

Larne remain 19 points adrift of league leaders Linfield heading into this weekend and still have five matches in hand over David Healy’s side as they chase a third consecutive Premiership title.

They’re set for a busy few months with eight league matches scheduled in February while they’ll look to claim a first silverware success of the season in the Co Antrim Shield showpiece decider against Glentoran on Tuesday.

"We're going to have to overcome a lot this year if we want to achieve what we want to and you have to dig in at times, you have to show that resilience,” added Haveron. “I don't think we got the rub of the green with a lot of the decisions (in defeat to Cliftonville on Tuesday) - I felt they sort of went the other side of us.

"We have to overcome all of that, keep lifting our levels, keep moving the ball quickly and playing our football. We just have to look after ourselves and keep moving forward."

The Northern Ireland Football League (NIFL) have confirmed three of Larne’s Premiership matches have been rescheduled alongside Glenavon’s home clash against Coleraine.

Rescheduled dates:

Larne v Portadown (originally 28 January) now Saturday 1 February 2025 – kick-off: 5.30pm.

Linfield v Larne (originally 30 December) now Tuesday 11 February 2025 – kick-off: 7.45pm.

Ballymena United v Larne (originally 11 February) now Saturday 1 March 2025 – kick-off: 3pm.

Glenavon v Coleraine (originally 11 January) now Saturday 8 March 2025 – kick-off: 3pm.