Larne players will 'draw a line' under shock Irish Cup exit, say Gary Haveron ahead of Premiership clash away at Crusaders

The Inver Reds were heavy favourites to progress against their Championship opposition but were unstuck as Ruairi Boorman's extra-time winner stunned the reigning Irish League champions.

After their historic European campaign has also come to an end, Larne have more time to focus on their Premiership fulfilments as they continue to play catch-up after previous fixtures were postponed.

It all starts this evening as Larne travel to a Crusaders side who comfortably beat Knockbreda in Irish Cup duty.

"We'll go through it with the players," Haveron told Larne's social media platforms on the Limavady loss.

"We'll see what we didn't do enough of on Saturday and then draw a line under it.

"It's massive to build some momentum in the league.

"It's really key and we could have done without extra-time on Saturday, but listen, it is what it is.

"We've got to start taking it one game at a time again and get back to putting full focus into trying to get the next result.

"We owe it to the fans to go out and run ourselves into the ground on Tuesday night to make sure we come away with a positive result."

Larne still have a lot to play for in the second half of the campaign as they have a County Antrim Shield final date against Glentoran pencilled in the calendar, as well as a BetMcLean Cup semi-final tie against Cliftonville.

However, Haveron fumed at the Irish Cup loss as the club’s wait to lift the trophy for the very first time must wait for another year.

"I don't think disappointment even comes close,” he fumed. “We've let ourselves down big time with the level of performance.

"We knew how difficult it was going to be, you just have to look at the pitch and how heavy it is, but we talked about that and the attitude and mentality of the players...we just weren't at it and didn't do enough over the course of the game.

"A massive decision early in the game when Conor McKendry gets kicked across the knees and it doesn't get given and maybe at 1-0 it's a different game because we can relax into it and play a bit more.

"They outfought us today and that can never be the case...I just felt we weren't at it. We probably got what we deserved.

"The Irish Cup is so important to the football club. We talked about it a couple of weeks ago about the priorities and this is one of our priorities...we've let it slip through our hands."

Meanwhile, Larne have confirmed a change in the goalkeeper coaching department as Alan Blayney, who was at the club for five years, has been replaced by ex-Linfield and St Johnstone shot stopper Alan Mannus.

In a social media post, the Inver Park club stated: “We are delighted to announce the appointment of Alan Mannus as our new Goalkeeper Coach.

"Bringing experience from an impressive, decorated playing career, Alan most recently served as a Goalkeeping Coach Educator for the Irish FA.”

The Inver Reds thanked Blayney for “his huge contribution to this historic period of the club's history.”