Shane McEleney hails the character in the Larne squad

The former Derry City defender feels the combination of hard work and footballing ability is the perfect recipe for success.

“It’s the best changing room I’ve been involved in in a long time,” said McEleney.

“We’re all in this together, and you can see that in our performances, we fought back from 2-1 down to beat the Welders last week.

“That shows our character. We’re not just a good footballing side, we work hard for each other.”

McEleney helped Larne secure another three points on Saturday as they beat Knockbreda 2-0.

The Inver Park outfit have only conceded nine goals so far this season, and McEleney says the competition for places is bringing out the best in everyone.

“I think competition is good for the whole team,” he said.

“The more competition there is for places the more you get out of players.

“When have been doing really well of late and limiting the chances for our opponents.

“We just have to make sure we keep that going for the remainder of the season.”

Larne head to Shamrock Park this Saturday to face third placed Portadown.

Matthew Tipton’s side dropped points away at PSNI last week, but McEleney is expecting a very tough test.

“We know when we go to Shamrock Park we’re going to come up against the best Portadown,” he said.

“It will be a tough game away from home, but so far this season we’ve done really well with everything that’s been thrown at us.”