Larne slumped to their fourth consecutive defeat in the Europa Conference League after losing 1-0 against Slovenian side Olimpija despite a spirited display in Ljubljana.

Sean Graham was sent off for a second bookable offence inside the final ten minutes with the Irish Premiership champions trailing to substitute Ivan Durdov’s 67th minute header.

Assistant manager Gary Haveron made four changes to the side beaten by St Gallen, with Graham, Mark Randall, Aaron Donnelly and Paul O’Neill coming in.

New manager Nathan Rooney, who succeeds Tiernan Lynch, will take charge for the first time for Sunday’s Irish Premiership game against Cliftonville.

placeholder image — Larne defended stoutly against Olimpija but their resistance was eventually broken at the Stozice Stadium in Ljubljana

Olimpija put Larne under pressure from the outset, with captain Cian Bolger knocking the ball out of play in the opening minutes to thwart a potential threat.

Defender Bolger again made an important clearance moments later, deflecting Raul Florucz’s shot out of play.

The hosts went close after 11 minutes when Ahmet Muhamedbegovic headed Jorge Silva’s cross over the bar.

With half-an-hour gone, Larne were frustrating Olimpija with some resolute defending in a game of few clear-cut chances.

As the half-time whistle approached, Olimpija blew a huge opportunity to break the deadlock when David Sualehe set up Florucz, who could only fire his shot high over the crossbar as Larne heaved a sigh of relief.

Larne went into the break level with Haveron no doubt the happier of the two managers after nullifying the threat from Victor Sanchez’s side and creating a decent chance of their own, when Paul O’Neill headed narrowly wide.

After the restart, Rohan Ferguson produced an excellent save from a Marko Best header after the Olimpija player had been sent through on goal.

Larne responded with a big chance of their own when Dylan Sloan fired wide past the left hand post after being played into the box by Randall.

However, the home side took the lead in the 67th minute when substitute Durdov made it 1-0 with his first touch of the game, rising to meet Florucz’s corner with a strong header past Ferguson.

Olimpija were pressing for a second going into the final ten minutes when Larne suffered a further setback as Graham was sent off after receiving a second yellow card after appearing to shove Silva.

Minutes later, Larne had a golden opportunity to draw level but a hesitant Matthew Lusty allowed the Olimpija defenders time to regroup and his shot was comfortably saved by Matevz Vidovsek.

Olimpija had the ball in the back of the net after Antonio Marin slammed home from close range late on, but the goal was ruled out for offside after a VAR check.

Nonetheless, Olimpija wrapped up a third Europa Conference victory in a row, condemning Larne to another defeat as they remain without a point in the competition and rooted to the bottom of the Europa Conference League table.

Their next opponents are Dinamo-Minsk, who are the only other side yet to earn a point. Larne will make the trip to Belarus for the tie on December 12.