Nathan Rooney admits Larne star 'hungry and raring to go' after making goalscoring return following prolonged spell out of action

The 21-year-old enjoyed a superb 2023/24 campaign on loan at Dungannon Swifts, scoring nine Premiership goals, and returned to Inver Park to play an important role in their dream run to the UEFA Conference League’s League Phase.

Lusty’s progression, which also included a call-up to Northern Ireland’s U21 squad, was halted by injury and illness with the talented attacker’s last competitive appearance coming in December’s stalemate against Carrick Rangers.

He played around 40 minutes in Tuesday’s 3-0 win over Portadown as Larne continued their preparation for next week’s Conference League first qualifying round showdown with Latvian outfit FK Auda and opened the scoring before Dan Bent and Conor McKendry also found the net.

Lusty’s return provides a major boost at an important time for Rooney and the Inver Reds chief was delighted to have him back amongst the goals.

"He's just so easy to work with,” Rooney told the club’s media channel. “He follows instructions perfectly.

"What you don't want to do when he has that pace is take anything out of his game so he's really lifted us as well. It's nice to see him back.

"We've had a couple of knocks so he has came back at a key time and we're just managing him. He's hungry and raring to go."

Lusty, alongside the likes of Benji Magee, provides Larne’s attacking line with searing pace and Rooney believes that’s one aspect of their game which has been clear in the early stages of pre-season.

"He's (Lusty) a talent and looking through our squad you're seeing our pace,” he added. “It's coming out a little bit more.

"The quality was a little bit questionable at certain times tonight, but as long as we're committed and allowing players that bit more freedom in terms of their play you're going to get the likes of Matty and Conor scoring.

"We need a bit more discipline moving forward to Europe but the likes of Matty has showcased once again what they are good at."