East Antrim derby: Larne hoping to 'bounce back' after Dungannon draw

The east Antrim sides met at the same venue on Friday, September 22, with the home side winning 4-1 thanks to braces from Paul O’Neill and Andy Ryan. Daniel Purkis got the consolation goal for Carrick.

The reigning league champions come into this week’s clash in fourth place in the standings on 23 points, eight points behind the early pace-setters, Linfield. Having played 12 games, they have won six, drawn five and lost once.

Speaking to Larne’s media director Ian Cahoon following his side’s 0-0 draw against Dungannon Swifts last time out, manager Tiernan Lynch said: “Nobody knows more than us that we’ve got to turn those draws into wins and we’ve got to do that sooner rather than later.”

Speaking to Larne’s media team, Levi Ives stated: “We just need to bounce back.

"We’ll get back into training and work harder than ever and put things right next Friday.”

Meanwhile, Carrick currently occupy eighth-place in the table on 13 points.

Speaking to Carrick’s media team following his side’s 2-1 loss at Taylor’s Avenue against Linfield on October 13, manager Stuart King explained: “Larne did a real good job on us last time, we weren’t competitive and I was really angry about that.

"It’s up to me now to see how we are next week and re-group and hopefully come up with a plan to at least be more competitive when we go there next week.”