Any early-morning concerns over the condition of the pitch – which passed a mid-morning inspection - have eased and it’s a bright, breezy afternoon in Ballymena.

The home side, still searching for their first win of 2025 in any competition, make two changes from the side which grabbed a last-gasp point against Glentoran in midweek.

Caolan Loughran returns from suspension to replace Stephen O'Donnell - who himself serves a ban after reaching five yellow cards - in the centre of defence, while teenager James Hood starts in midfield in place of the injured Patrick McEleney.

An unbeaten sequence in their last three league fixtures has kept Portadown in the top half of the table as they continue to defy the pre-season expectation of so many fans and pundits.

They make one change from the side which beat Larne at Shamrock Park last weekend with Divin Isamala replacing Lewis MacKinnon.

Ballymena United: O'Neill, Barr, Loughran, McCallion, Lafferty, Jarvis, Hood, Corbally, Gawne, Edogun, McCurry.

Subs: Johnston, Moore, McMullan, Devine, Flynn, Idehen, Phinn

Portadown: McCarey, Chapman, Altintop, Isamala, McCullough, Minzamba, Wylie, Teelan, Ukek, McCartan, Obhakhan.

Subs: Williamson, Wilson, McElroy, Mayse, Fyfe, Traynor, Thompson.

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Carrick Rangers manager Stephen Baxter has urged his players to "take up the challenge and express themselves" in Saturday's crucial Irish Premiership basement encounter against Loughgall at Taylors Avenue.

As both sides battle for their top division survival, Baxter's team sit 11th in the table, nine points above their bottom-placed opponents, having played one game more.

Carrick have drawn four and lost six of their past 10 league outings since lasting tasting victory in a win over Ballymena United on 30 November.

"It will be two teams that are battling very, very hard and two teams that are competitive," said Baxter of this weekend's contest.

"I always think you have to take these things as a challenge. You shouldn't worry too much and say to ourselves 'we can go and do this'. Don't be frightened of the experience - just go and play and express yourself and don't be worrying too much about it."

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These two teams have met twice before this season - Linfield winning 3-0 on each occasion.

Should they complete the hat-trick this afternoon they will inch closer to a 57th league title and in double quick time given that they hold a 19 points advantage over nearest rivals Glentoran.

Blues' boss David Healy makes two changes to the team which defeated Loughgall here last Saturday as Sam Roscoe and Matthew Fitzpatrick drop out completely to be replaced by Euan East and Joel Cooper, who returns from suspension.

Opposite number Dean Shiels makes sweeping changes to the side which went down 2-1 at home to Glentoran a week ago.

Dean Jarvis is suspended while Declan McManus hasn't recovered from an injury picked up in that game. Jack Scott, Rhyss Campbell and Jamie McGonigle start on the bench.

Matthew Shevlin is back to lead the line while there are also recalls for central defender Kyle McClelland, Connor Murray and Kyle Spence along with playmaker Jamie Glackin, who has recovered from injury.

Linfield: Walsh, East, Shields (c), McClean, Cooper, Hall, McKee, Offord, McGee, Morrison, Orr.

Subs: Johns, Allen, Ballantyne, Archer, Mulgrew, Annett, McKay.

Coleraine: Brown, Kane (c), Boyle, Shevlin, Murray, Spence, McClelland, Glackin, Ives, Doherty, Dunne.

Subs: Little, Stewart, Campbell, Scott, Burns, McGonigle, Smith.

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Earlier this week, Richard Petrie caught up with Glenavon's much-travelled striker Michael O'Connor.

The former Linfield, Glentoran and Dungannon Swifts player has also enjoyed spells in the League of Ireland, Scotland and Sweden - but says he is loving life under Paddy McLaughlin at Mourneview Park.

"I think it's the best spell I've had probably in football. Paddy is getting the best out of me and that's why I signed a new deal because I'm enjoying my football and going to training."

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Glenavon make two changes to the side that drew 1-1 with Larne in mid-week, with Peter Campbell and Christopher Atherton coming into the team at the expense of Barney McKeown and Isacc Baird, the latter of whom misses out on the match-day squad with a hamstring injury.

Quite a few changes to the Crusaders side that defeated Ballymena 3-1 in the league last weekend.

Robert Weir, Jordan Stewart, Daniel Larmour, and Harry Franklin all make it in, while Mal Smith and Lewis Barr drop to the bench.

Ross Clarke and Jordan Forsythe meanwhile miss out on the match-day squad having picked up yellow cards in the win over Ballymena.

Glenavon: Ryan, Toure, O’Sullivan, Malone, McDaid, Campbell, Quinn, Atherton, Murphy, O’Connor, Carlin.

Subs: Byrne, Snoddy, Lynch, McKeown, Prendergast, Heaney, Wilson

Crusaders: Tuffey, Callacher, Weir, Lowry, Jewitt-White, Stewart, Blaney, O’Rourke, Larmour, Boyd, Franklin.

Subs: Brown, Williamson, Smith, O’Connor, Anderson, Barr, Downey.

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Stephen Baxter makes three changes to the starting XI who were beaten by Dungannon in their fifth straight league defeat last weekend.

There is a change between the posts with Jack McIntyre replacing Ross Glendinning and Nedas Maciulaitis and Danny Gibson also starting. Adam Foley drops to the bench with Kurtis Forsythe not in the squad.

There are two switches to the Loughgall side that lost against Linfield. Robbie Mahon makes his debut this afternoon and Benji Magee returns to the starting line-up for the first time in the league since rejoining the Villagers on loan.

Kirk McLaughlin is among the substitutes and Jamie Rea isn't involved this afternoon.

Carrick Rangers: McIntyre, Maciulaitis, McCullough, Clucas, Crowe, Heatley, Gibson, Boyle, O'Brien, Hastings, O'Malley.

Subs: Glendinning, Cushley, Cherry, Webb, Forbes, O'Reilly, Foley.

Loughgall: Gartside, Murdock, Andrade, Waide, Norton, Balde, Mahon, Magee, Carroll, Towe, McCaffrey.

Subs: Turker, Gibson, McMenemy, O'Brien, Francis, McCloskey, McLaughlin.

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Dungannon Swifts manager Rodney McAree says he is preparing to face a Larne team who he expects may be feeling "like a wounded animal" in the contest at Inver Park.

The back-to-back Premiership champions are without a win in their past four league games as Gary Haveron's side drew with Glenavon on Tuesday night after suffering three straight defeats.

"They're probably a wee bit disgruntled at the moment as results haven't been going their way. They're going to be like a wounded animal," said McAree.

"They'll be looking to get back on track as they chase an automatic place to qualify for Europe."

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The hosts welcome back captain Cian Bolger to lead a reshuffled defensive unit alongside Shaun Want, while Jordan McEneff's introduction promises to aid a midfield that has struggled in recent weeks.

Ryan Nolan, Logan Wallace and Dylan Sloan make way for the incoming trio.

The visitors, buoyed by their emphatic 3-1 victory over Carrick Rangers and make three changes.

Dylan King slots into defence, James Knowles adds experience to midfield, and Brandon Bermingham spearheads the attack, with Dean Curry, Bobby-Jack McAleese and Leo Alves dropping out of the matchday squad entirely.

Larne: Ferguson, Want, Donnelly, O’Connor, S. Graham, McEneff, Bolger, Cosgrove, Gallagher, Bayode, Ryan.

Subs: D. Graham, McKendry, O’Neill, Nolan, Devlin, Wallace, Simpson.

Dungannon Swifts: Dunne, S. Scott, King, Knowles, McGovern, Dillon, Glenny, Wallace, Mitchell, Bermingham, Bigiramana.

Subs: Henderson, J. Scott, Marron, Boyd, Galvin, Maguire, Hutchinson.

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And while you wait on the team news from today, you can watch the highlights from last night here

Goals from Ryan Curran and Jack Keaney in the space of three second-half minutes saw Cliftonville end Glentoran's 16-game unbeaten run with a 2-0 victory at Solitude.

After a goalless first half, Jim Magilton's side made the breakthrough after the hour mark when Rory Hale's parried shot fell to Ryan Curran, who scored his fifth league goal of the campaign.

Three minutes later that lead was doubled thanks to Ryan Keaney's header as the home side took full control of the game and saw out the win.

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The Glentoran assistant manager Tim McCann is in the Sportsound studio with Orla Bannon today.

Here's what he's predicting for today's games:

Ballymena United 1-1 Portadown

Carrick Rangers 1-0 Loughgall

Glenavon 2-2 Crusaders

Larne 2-1 Dungannon Swifts

Linfield 2-0 Coleraine

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Welcome to our coverage of the Irish Premiership today with five games in Northern Ireland's top flight.

After Glentoran dropped points against Cliftonville last night, Linfield could extend their lead at the top to 22 points with victory over Coleraine.

Dungannon Swifts will have their eyes set on closing the gap on the Glens who sit in second at the moment. Rodney McAree's side face Larne at Inver Park, who are looking to get back to winning ways after a run of four league games without a victory.

Crusaders have also got Declan Devine's side in their sights as they head to in-form Glenavon, as do Portadown who travel to Ballymena.

At the other end of the table, the bottom two do battle as Carrick and Loughgall look for their first wins since November.

You can listen to Sportsound now by clicking the play button at the top of this page - and we'll have team news from all the games over the next hour as we build-up to kick-off.

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