Larne schedule providing 'lots of learning curves'

Larne manager Tiernan Lynch says his side's congested fixture schedule on the domestic and European fronts is providing "lots of learning curves" for the club's staff and players.

The back-to-back Irish Premiership champions are still playing catch-up on their rivals in terms of league matches played because of their involvement in continental competition, which has seen them make history by qualifying for the league stages of the Uefa Conference League.

The Inver Park club are also involved in the League Cup and County Antrim Shield, leading to a hectic programme of games over the next few months.

“It has been a challenge but it’s one we need to embrace," said Lynch.

"It’s been a great learning curve for us, a lot to get your head around, trying to keep that sharpness, that level of intensity, yet making sure the boys are ready to play."

The Larne boss adds that the quick turnaround of games they are facing is "not something they are complaining about" but it does present challenges in terms of preparation.

"Our boys haven’t been wired to play the amount of games that have been asked of them. You’re now in a situation where the final whistle is blown and two days later you have another game.

"The preparation time has been very different because we’ve found ourselves having to do a lot of the preparation off the pitch, whereas we were normally able to do all our preparations on the pitch.

"That’s been very different for us so we’ve had to look at ways and means of getting our message across, getting our gameplan across, maybe giving them a little bit more analysis to understand their role and responsibility."

After Saturday's top-flight game against Crusaders at Inver Park, Lynch's team will face League of Ireland champions Shamrock Rovers in their next European game at Windsor Park on Thursday before travelling to Portadown for another Premiership match on Sunday 27 October.

"Obviously they are very different games - playing domestic football and the European stage - so there have been lots of learning curves in there, lots of things we’ve had to tweak from an off-field perspective, both for the players and the staff.

"Domestically, there are so many new faces in the league, so many new managers, you are being challenged all the time now. I watched the Crusaders team for the first time last week, their style is very different, the personnel is very different, so there are challenges in that.

"Then the next day you get to watch Rovers, how they set up, how they play, the talent they have in their team, for a manager or anyone involved in football, that’s what you want."