The fixtures may be piling up for Larne but captain Cian Bolger insists they wouldn’t give up their place in the UEFA Conference League just because the games will be coming thick and fast in the new year.
Saturday’s Sports Direct Premiership postponement against Loughgall due to Storm Darragh and this weekend’s cancelled game against Glenavon because of their travels to Baku to face Dinamo Minsk on Thursday means the Inver Reds are facing a heavy schedule in 2025.
Nathan Rooney’s side have three games still to make up, none of which have had rescheduled dates confirmed as of yet, as well as a BetMcLean Cup Semi-Final and a Co Antrim Shield Final against Glentoran on January 21 to look forward to.
That has come alongside having to play six games on Thursday nights in the Conference League, which has led to a string on Sunday fixtures in the Premiership, but Bolger maintains that they are not regretting getting this far in Europe.
“We set out at the start of pre-season to get into this competition, so it’s something you have to embrace. This is something we want to be a part of and, going forward, this is something we want to be in every season,” said the skipper.
“It’s not something we can be complaining about and if you asked any player, they’d rather be playing games than on the training pitch, so the more games we can play the better, to be honest with you.
“It was unfortunate the game was called off at the weekend but it gave us more time to work on the training pitch and for the manager to get his message across, so we benefitted from that more than previously.”
Instead the centre-back is placing more of a focus on trying to turn a couple of close misses against St. Gallen and Olimpija into a first European point against Minsk on Thursday or, potentially, a first win against another team chasing their first positive result of the campaign.
In Ljubljana in particular, Larne were defensively sound and but for one well-placed second-half header would have taken a fully deserved draw back to Northern Ireland. Instead, they had to lick their wounds and try and bounce back instead.
“We’re close, we’re knocking on the door. If you look at the last game, it was a set piece that separated the two teams. Each game we’ve added experience over the last number of games and we’re confident going in that we’re in touching distance,” added Bolger.
“If you make mistakes, you get punished. It’s been a great learning curve for all involved, there’s a real step up in quality and you have to be bang on your game throughout the 90 minutes and more.
“Going forward, we can take great confidence into tomorrow night and beyond. It’s just been a different calibre.”
Bolger has been also been highly positive of new manager Rooney, who will take charge of just his third game for the club at the Sumgayit City Stadium on Thursday and first in Europe having succeeded Derry City-bound Tiernan Lynch two weeks ago.
“There’s a great buzz around the place again. There’s a new energy around the building, which is great to see,” enthuses Bolger.
“The previous manager brought a lot of success but this is a new era for the club and the manager’s come in with his ideas and we’re really excited to get working under him and see what we can.”