Stuart King with 'stay humble' message after Carrick Rangers create another piece of club history

Carrick’s 3-1 victory over Newry City, which relegated the Showgrounds outfit to the Championship for next season, combined with Dungannon Swifts beating Loughgall 2-0 means the County Antrim side have now jumped into seventh spot.

King’s men hold a two-point advantage over the now eighth-placed Villagers, who they welcome to the Loughview Leisure Arena this weekend, while in-form Dungannon are also still very much in contention for the final play-off place, currently sitting three points behind Carrick with two games remaining.

Carrick recorded their highest-ever top-flight finish of eighth under King last season alongside amassing 40 points – a number they’ve already bettered this term by collecting 44.

While determined to keep ticking off historic milestones, King says his men will keep their feet on the ground heading into the final weeks of this season.

"I told my lads that Newry would come out like a house on fire and for the first 20 minutes I thought they were outstanding...we couldn't get out,” he told the club’s media channel. “The injury to Andrew Mitchell broke up the play and we were able to regroup, settle and after that I felt we were really dominant.

"We scored three great goals and in the second-half we were outstanding but couldn't put the ball in the net. We could have scored a lot more goals.

"It's a really good result for us and means we now have the most Premiership wins, highest points tally, but we're going to stay humble because there are a lot of big games where we have to go and deliver. It's a great result, performance and I'm delighted with them."

Danny Gibson’s first-half strike brought his Premiership tally for the season to 16 – only Andy Ryan, Ben Wilson and Lee Bonis can boast a better return – while Curtis Allen and David Cushley also got their names on the scoresheet.

"I thought we were really dangerous every time we went forward and created a lot of chances,” added King. “I said to them before the game that the front three can win us the game and I thought they needed to do more than they did on Saturday.

"When we needed people to step up, James (Teelan), Danny and Curtis all stepped up. We've a hell of a squad, had a great bench tonight and everybody is going to have a part to play in us getting results."