Linfield boss David Healy shouldered the blame for his team’s defeat last week and doesn’t intend to make the same mistake in Friday night's Samuel Gelston’s Whiskey Irish Cup clash with Larne at Inver Park.
Healy reacted swiftly to his team’s demise at Coleraine – a 3-0 thumping that ultimately knocked them off the league summit – by swooping into the transfer market.
Former Falkirk defender Ben Hall, Cardiff City’s Kieron Evans and Jake Hastie, formerly with Rangers and Motherwell, were all snapped up in the final days and hours of the January window.
In a repeat of last season’s final, when the Blues lifted the Irish Cup for a record-breaking 44 th time, Healy is demanding an instant response against Tiernan Lynch’s side, admitting it’s hardly an ideal tie for both sides.
“It’s a big game and one we are looking forward to,” said the former Northern Ireland international striker. “I’m open and honest to admit that it’s probably a draw that neither team wanted at this stage.
“But it is what it is, we’ve managed to add to the group by bringing in a few new faces and hopefully we’ll have one or two players back fit and healthy again because we were down to the bare bones at Coleraine last week.
“I said at the time, I took full responsibility for the performance at the Showgrounds. Yes, we were one or two (players) light, but I got it wrong in terms of the formation and the team I picked. I left the players short.
“There was no point in me looking at anyone else. I had to analyse my own contribution. I beat myself up over it, but the defeat was on me.”
It really could be a defining five days in Linfield’s season because they also face the Inver man in a vital League clash at Windsor Park next Tuesday.
Healy added: “I don’t think last week’s result will have a damaging effect, there are still a huge number of games to be played. I would imagine there will be a lot of twists and turns for every team up ahead.
“We’ll take last week’s defeat on the chin and move on. We have a big week ahead of us."
Although Larne took a little bit of revenge for last season’s Irish Cup final result by beating the Blues in the County Antrim Shield final earlier this month, defender Kofi Balmer insists Healy’s team will be hurting from that defeat.
“We know they will be coming out with all guns blazing after our Shield win,” said the former Ballymena United man who this week penned a new deal to keep him at Inver Park until 2024.
“It’s always a big game against Linfield and our Shield win will still be stinging.
“But as a club we have prepared well leading up to the game. We are all excited and are relishing the challenge.”
Elsewhere on Friday night, Newry City face Ards in the second round of the Irish Cup.
Both ties have a 7.45pm kick-off with the Larne v Linfield tie streamed live on the BBC iPlayer.
