Back to bread and butter of the league for Haveron’s Gers

“We have said from the off the league is our main priority and now our full concentration will obviously be on the bid to win promotion to the Premiership, starting with games against Loughgall and Limavady United ‘at home’ over the next week,” he said.

“I appreciate that most folk will be looking at the two fixtures and suggesting they should yield six points to Carrick Rangers. But we will only get full points if we work hard enough and play well enough against two teams which have improved significantly during the transfer window.

“But it’s one game at a time and, now that we are top of the table after securing three hard-earned points against a gritty Harland and Wolff Welders team. It’s up to us to prove that we deserve to be there.

“Loughgall have grown considerably stronger, with a new manager in Brian Adair and a posse of new players since the last time we played them - Wayne Drummond and Stevie Ferguson just two worthy of mention. So we know we can expect a tough challenge from them at Inver Park,” assured the manager, who says the Comrades defeat has financial implications for the club as well as being a missed long-shot opportunity for silverware.

“It costs a huge amount to keep a club afloat and an extended cup run would have been a blessing.

“The board has worked their socks off to keep our heads above water, with the added cost of paying rent for grounds for home games coming on top of fees for match officials and losing maybe 20 supporters a time because of the travel and also no chance of walk-in fans.

“So, we are all aware of the consequences of the defeat and I hope the players will take my criticism on the chin and bounce back with a performance worthy of the shirt this weekend. Our loyal supporters have backed us through thick and thin, and we owe it to them to give 100 per cent effort to reward them for that.”