After firing Larne to their third Premiership title on Saturday, hat-trick hero Andy Ryan admits “I really don’t know” what his future holds following a draining campaign which started on the sidelines and ended in Gibson Cup glory.

Ryan has established a reputation as one of the Irish League’s top players since arriving from Hamilton Academical in January 2023, scoring 59 league goals in 95 appearances for the Inver Reds.

The Scottish star brought his season tally to 16 in 17 matches by netting a treble in Saturday’s 8-0 triumph over Dungannon Swifts as Larne celebrated another title in style.

Ryan suffered a serious injury in pre-season and only returned to action in late-December, but more than made up for lost time by playing a key role to help Gary Haveron’s side get over the line.

placeholder image — Andy Ryan of Larne lifts the Gibson Cup. (Photo by Andrew McCarroll/Pacemaker Press)

The 31-year-old’s current contract is set to expire this summer, likely putting a host of clubs in both Northern Ireland and Scotland on alert, but he isn’t rushing into any decision.

"To be honest, I really don't know,” said Ryan about his future on the Inver Park pitch. “I've been asked that so many times in the last couple of weeks, I really don't know.

"I worked tirelessly every single day to get myself back from the injury, it was exhausting to get myself back.

"My whole focus was getting my hands on that Gibson Cup again. It's been a long, long year for myself personally.

"I'm going to enjoy a few weeks with the family and see where it goes from there.”

Despite his stunning goalscoring record, Ryan had doubts if he’d return the same player following a prolonged injury absence – but a motivating factor getting him through the recovery process was celebrating silverware success.

"Yeah, it's been difficult,” he added. “When you miss so long, you've always got questions.

"Will you come back? Will you come back the same player? I really, really worked hard to get myself back. Once I got myself back, I wanted to really focus on getting this Gibson Cup again – today we got it.

"We just focused on ourselves. I know you might think it's all cliche, but we really do just focus on ourselves.

"We look for no favours from anyone, we just try to take care of our own business. I think that really showed today.”