Larne are inches away from the opener inside six minutes as Paul O'Neill flicks Andy Ryan's cutback over home keeper Jacob Carney, but Paddy Burns is alert to the danger to hack the effort off the line.

Lively start to proceedings here at Taylors Avenue with both sides intent on attack.

Pretty even possession so far.

Larne get us under way against Glenavon at Mourneview Park.

Matthew Snoddy of Carrick gets us under way at Taylors Avenue.

Linfield striker Kieran Offord will miss the rest of the season after undergoing ankle surgery.

The 21-year-old returned from a four-month spell on the sidelines as a substitute in the Blues' 3-1 win over Portadown earlier this month.

However, the Scot's night was cut short after just 13 minutes on the pitch when he was forced off following a tackle from Lewis MacKinnon.

Having missed Linfield's BetMcLean Cup final win over Glentoran, the club have confirmed his ankle surgery was successful.

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Image source, Inpho

Glentoran returned to winning ways with a comfortable 3-0 win over Cliftonville at the Oval on Wednesday night.

Daniel Larmour gave the Glens the lead in the 25th minute as the hosts looked to bounce back from Sunday's BetMcLean Cup final defeat by Linfield.

A Pat Hoban double after the break sealed the points for the home side in a contest they dominated from start to finish.

The win sees the hosts cut the gap to league leaders Larne to two points while the visitors remain in fifth.

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"I read a lot of the journalists this week, they wrote us off and said we couldn't win, that means a bit more to me today."

David Healy was beaming in his post-match interview after Linfield's gritty 1-0 BetMcLean Cup final win over rivals Glentoran at Windsor Park but clearly wanted to make a point.

While there's no getting away from the fact that Healy himself has cut a frustrated figure at various stages of the campaign with the Blues toiling in the defence of their Irish Premiership title and being dumped out of the Irish Cup by Championship Limavady United, he still clearly felt that talk of Glentoran having too much for his side in this final was wide of the mark.

Glentoran will argue they had the better chances and could and probably should have put the game to bed in normal time, they didn't.

Linfield, as they always seem to do on the big days, hung in there with substitute Chris McKee keeping his cool to score the winner from the spot.

Read more of Lauren McCann's article here

Image source, PACEMAKER

Chris McKee scored an extra-time penalty to help Linfield edge past Glentoran 1-0 last Sunday and win the BetMcLean Cup for a record-extending 13th time.

In what was the first cup decider between the 'Big Two' in 16 years, substitute McKee kept his cool from the spot after he was brought down by MJ Kamson-Kamara in the box.

History was made in the final with Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology used for the first time in Northern Ireland domestic football and the Scottish officials in charge of the technology concurred with Ben McMaster's decision to award the spot kick.

For the first time, Linfield, as winners, have also secured qualification for the Irish Premiership's European play-off final in May.

Ballymena United were the 2-1 victors last weekend against Carrick, who suffered their second defeat in a row.

The deadlock was broken on 64 minutes when Igor Rutkowski was on hand to bundle the ball home from a couple of yards out.

Rutkowski doubled his and Ballymena's total five minutes later from the penalty spot before Danny Gibson pulled one back, also from a spot-kick.

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Eleven weeks ago, when Glenavon were bottom of the table and 12 points adrift of Crusaders, not many would have believed that they would move out of the automatic relegation spot before the split, but manager Michael O'Connor did.

It was a challenging start to the season for the Lurgan Blues who failed to register a point in their opening 11 games.

However, since O'Connor took over at the helm in October, the side have started to improve and now do not occupy the automatic relegation position thanks to a 3-0 victory at Seaview last weekend.

"I have gotten a few grey hairs since I have come in," O'Connor told BBC Sport NI.

"I always believed. People said I was mad to take the job and that they were down. I think everyone was saying that Glenavon were going down to the Championship next year.

"Listen, I had the belief that we could keep them up and I was trying to get the players to believe as well and you can see now on the pitch. If we all stick together, I think we will be OK."

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Glenavon climbed off the bottom of the Irish Premiership table with a 3-0 victory over Crusaders, who now occupy the automatic relegation spot.

Eleven weeks ago, Crusaders were in 11th position and 12 points clear of Glenavon at the foot of the table.

However, goals from Paddy Burns, Luke McGerrigan and Conor Falls secured the three points for the Lurgan Blues, who leapfrog the Crues thanks to a superior goal difference.

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Larne manager Gary Haveron praised Andy Ryan's "quality" goals during their 2-1 win over Dungannon Swifts at Inver Park.

Ryan broke the deadlock with a superb free-kick and netted his and Larne's second just before the half-time whistle from the penalty spot.

Andrew Mitchell did net a late goal for the Swifts, but the Inver Reds were able to hold on and secure the three points.

"We raced into a 2-0 lead and I thought we deserved it, but we were probably wasteful," Haveron told BBC Sport NI.

"They are good strikes from Andy Ryan. Obviously, the penalty and the free-kick is absolute quality and it shows the class that he has."

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Image source, PACEMAKER

Two goals from Andy Ryan helped leaders Larne to a 2-1 win over Dungannon Swifts at Inver Park last Friday night.

A stunning free-kick from Ryan broke the deadlock on 22 minutes before the striker doubled their advantage from the spot just before the break.

In the 89th minute, Andrew Mitchell's superb strike halved Larne's lead, but Rodney McAree's side couldn't find another late goal.

Read more here

Welcome to Carrickfergus, where conditions overhead are perfect for football.

Carrick lost last time out against Ballymena United and haven't tasted victory in three games. However, their outstanding form post-Christmas means they can forget about relegation and still have an eye on making the end-of-season European play-offs.

Manager Stephen Baxter makes just the two changes to his side for tonight's fixture. The experienced former Linfield man, Jimmy Callacher comes into defence to replace the suspended Billy Joe Burns, while Matthew Olosunde is introduced in attack.

Fresh from their League Cup win on Sunday against Glentoran, boss David Healy makes three changes tonight as the Blues return to league action with only a glimmer of hope remaining in their title-race ambitions.

Chris McKee, Adam Frizzell and Dane McCullough are all promoted, with Kirk Millar on the bench.

Carrick Rangers: Gartside, Place, Callacher, McCullough (C), Buchanan-Rolleston, Crowe, Snoddy, Steele, Moore, Heatley, Olosunde.

Subs: Donnelly, Waide, Cherry, Glendinning, McCawl, Hill, Jeffers.

Linfield: Johns, East, McClean (C), Hall, Archer, McKee, Frizzell, McGee, Fitzpatrick, Leahy, McCullough.

Subs: Walsh, Millar, Yates, Mulgrew, Brown, Taylor, McDaid.

Image source, BBC Sport

Larne make the trip to Mourneview Park to face Glenavon and aiming to restore their five-point gap at the top of the Irish Premiership over nearest rivals Glentoran.

The Inver Reds face a rejuvenated Lurgan Blues, who lifted themselves off bottom spot on Saturday thanks to their 3-0 win at fellow strugglers Crusaders.

Unsurprisingly home boss Michael O'Connor goes with the same line-up which won so convincingly at Seaview.

Larne manager Gary Haveron makes two changes to the side which defeated Dungannon Swifts seven days ago with Leroy Millar and Paul O'Neill brought into the starting XI with Ronan Doherty and Jordan McEneff dropping to the bench.

Both sides come into the game in good form, with each having picked up seven points from last three league games, however Glenavon are yet to taste a league win over Larne since they returned to the top flight in 2019.

Glenavon: Carney, McMullan, Burns, Murphy, McKeown, Campbell, Ferris, Carlin, Falls, McGovern, McGerrigan.

Subs: Cartwright, Mallon, O'Kane, Lowe, Gilmore, Lindsay, Quinn.

Larne: Ferguson, Ridley, Donnelly Gallagher, O'Neill, S Graham, Millar, Cosgrove, Bent, Ryan, Simpson.

Subs: D Graham, McKendry, Randall, Doherty, McEneff, Lusty, Wallace.

Image source, BBC Sport

Welcome to our coverage of tonight's two matches, which kick off the final weekend of Premiership games before the end-of-season split.

Table-toppers Larne bid to stretch their lead at the top - Gary Haveron's side are two points clear as the travel to face a Glenavon side boosted by beating Crusaders in last Saturday's basement battle.

Linfield are back in action after their BetMcLean Cup triumph and sit eight points off the pace.

The Blues take on mid-table Carrick knowing a victory is required to keep their faint title hopes alive.

We'll bring you text updates and in-play clips from both fixtures.

Thanks for joining us.