Larne’s Euro dream can still come true: Mitchell

MIDFIELDER Andy Mitchell admits Larne face ‘eight cup finals’ as they chase down a possible European place.

Tiernan Lynch’s boys may be nine points behind second-placed Coleraine and five behind third-placed Glentoran in the Danske Bank Premiership table, but they are plotting a big finish to the campaign, starting in today’s showdown with Glenavon at Inver Park.

Having picked up maximum points from their last five league games, Larne’s momentum took a knock last time out when they were eliminated from the Irish Cup — beaten 3-2 in a quarter-final thriller by Coleraine.

Mitchell believes his team can use that defeat as a motivation factor as they attempt to reel in the teams above them in the league table.

“The cup defeat was a tough one to take,” said Mitchell, who joined the Inver boys from Linfield in January. “We thought we could go far in the competition, especially with the European place the big carrot.

“We now know we have another eight cup finals in front of us from now until the end of the season. It’s out of our hands to a certain extent, but we’ll keep pushing to get up the table as far as we can to see if we can get anywhere near the European place.

“You never know what happens because the teams above us are still involved in the Irish Cup — Coleraine, Glentoran and Cliftonville, which will open the door to Europe for the eventual winners.”

Regardless of what happens, it has been a sensational return to top flight football for Larne.

“The gaffer (Lynch) keeps going on about the building process we are in, we are still learning,” adds Mitchell.

“It’s our first year in the Premiership and we have done incredibly well so far.”