Larne midfield dynamo Leroy Millar insists his side have “learned from their mistakes” behind their inconsistent start to the season to emerge as genuine title challengers once more.
The east Antrim outfit lie second in the Sports Direct Irish Premiership table, only a single point behind leaders Linfield, heading into Friday night’s clash with Crusaders at Seaview.
The reigning champions had a relatively disappointing start to the campaign, dropping points to Dungannon Swifts, Coleraine and Cliftonville all within the month of August.
Unsurprisingly, critics pointed to a lack of resolve to living with the pressure of being title-holders, but Millar doesn’t see it that way.“
Of course, it wasn’t the ideal start to the season” he said.
“The most frustrating part of it all was that most of the points lost came against sides in the bottom six who we know we are capable of beating.
“We know that you can’t afford to drop points at the best of times so when we look back we just home that doesn’t come back to bite us come May.
What about the favourites tag, did that play a part?
“Of course, being champions puts a target on your back, but I don’t think that was something we have struggled with.
“We know winning a title is one thing, but defending it is 10 times harder.
“I think we have showed our resolve over the past few weeks to put that notion to bed that we are not up for the fight.”
The Ballymena native is not wrong there. Having won seven of their last eight league games, the Harbour men have charged up the table to reduce Linfield’s lead from double digits to one.
Millar sees the pivotal point of the season so far as being the 2-1 win over the Blues at Windsor Park back in early November.
“I think that was a real turning point,” he said.
“Although we didn’t speak about it publicly at the time, it was a huge game.
“If we had lost the game that night, Linfield would have had an 11-point lead and although league titles are not won in November, they can certainly be lost, and it would have been very difficult to claw a deficit like that back.
“We stuck in and got the job done, reducing their lead to five and we have been applying the pressure ever since.
”After having missed a number of games early in the season due to a hamstring injury and then a broken hand, it is not unsurprising that you may not have heard too much about last year’s player of the year, but that is all changing.“
Yeah I feel like I’m getting back to near my best.
“Injuries plagued me this season so far, but now I’m back feeling fit and getting some minutes under my belt.
“I’ve also got four goals in the last five games which I’m very pleased with on a personal note, but really it’s all about getting the Ws”.
Looking ahead to tonight’s game, Larne have history on their side.
Stephen Baxter’s fourth-placed Crues have not beaten Larne in six league meetings, a record that will be hard to improve upon this evening with the number of injuries the manager has to negotiate.
Defenders Jimmy Callacher and Rory McKeown are out for the season, whilst Philip Lowry is a doubt after picking upa head knock in last week’s 1-0 victory over Carrick Rangers.
Millar expects a challenge nonetheless: “You never get an easy time at Seaview.
“They love playing on their tight pitch and have goalscorers all over the park. We will have to be at our best to leave with all three points.
”A win would move Larne top of the table, before Linfield travel to Glenavon for a tricky encounter on Saturday.
Meanwhile, in tonight’s other tie, struggling Ballymena United host Carrick at the Showgrounds, with the Sky Blues in desperate need of a win to lift them out of the relegation dog fight.