John Herron hoping Larne can put things right again

The Invermen came into the game buoyed by retaining the County Antrim Shield.

But the 1-0 defeat to the Swifts leaves them 11 points off leaders Linfield and Herron says the players have to shoulder the blame.

“I think we got what we deserved to be honest,” the midfielder told the club’s Youtube channel.

“People can blame it on whatever, but we just didn’t show up.

“When you look at it, it’s easy to get up for games against the likes of Linfield and the other big teams.

“And without being disrespectful to Dungannon people maybe think you just need to show up and you’ll hit five or six or whatever, but that’s not the way this league is. They have a lot of good players, and if you give them time and space they will hurt you.

“You should learn after it happens once or twice, but to be honest we did the exact same thing last season.

“It’s nothing to do with anything else, it’s about the players. As I say it’s easy to get yourself up for the big games, but those are the games you have to go and win.

“Teams like Linfield go out and perform under pressure and win these games, and we didn’t do that. We go into every game trying to win, and as the gaffer says we want to sit at that top table.

“But if we perform like that against the so-called lesser teams then we’re not going to get there, and it’s nothing to do with the management, set-up or anything like that, it’s down to the players.”

Larne have the chance to cut the gap on third-place Cliftonville with victory over the Reds tonight.

“Cliftonville are a good side and they’re doing well,” said Herron.

“It was always going to be a big game, but it’s even bigger now after our result last Saturday.

“It was always going to be an uphill task, but that result has made it tougher, we just have to get on another run now and hopefully that starts on Friday night.”