Paul Leeman
Former Glentoran captain on BBC Sport NI

It's been an entertaining start to the league. It never fails to deliver talking points.

Image source, Pacemaker

Glentoran defender Ryan Cooney: "We didn't play like we know we can and we didn't take the game to Linfield in the same way we have done in the past.

"So that's where our frustration and disappointment stems from because we know we could have and should have done a lot better on the day.

"Those are things we can work on though, we know how to put that right and it's important that we take the learning from this game.

"The most important thing after any defeat is how you respond and thankfully in the past when we have suffered setbacks we have bounced back straight away.

"We need to do that again come Friday night as we don't want anything to linger on. We had a good few chats this week reflecting on the defeat and everyone had the same feelings on it.

"We have to use the disappointment as fuel for the fire and make sure that come Friday night we are raring to go once again, and we produce a performance we know we are capable of."

Cliftonville manager Jim Magilton said that "nobody is getting carried away" despite the side's positive start to the Irish Premiership season.

The north Belfast outfit were the victors against rivals Crusaders in the opening game of the campaign before beating Bangor 3-1 at Clandeboye Park.

The Reds have scored the most goals so far with new signings such as Ben Quinn impressing in their first fixtures.

"We have set out to be hard to beat," Magilton told BBC Sport NI.

"The game is the greatest teacher, and we will take great positives but there are certain things we have to work on and nobody is getting carried away.

"It is delightful, it's two wins but there is such a long way to go and we have to keep our feet firmly on the ground."

Now, Magilton's side's attentions will turn to their match against Linfield at Windsor Park.

The Blues lost against Ballymena United in their first game, but responded with a comfortable 2-1 win against Glentoran.

"I always look forward to going head-to-head with David Healy and playing Linfield, they are a fantastic side," he continued.

"No surprise, to me, that they bounced back against Glentoran. They have wonderful players, manager and staff. They bounced back in the style I thought they would.

"I am looking forward to the game and we go in with a bit of momentum."

Image source, Inpho

Here is how the league table looks as Ballymena United host Glentoran and Linfield take on Cliftonville at Windsor Park.

Image source, BBC Sport

Incoming director Conor Devine believes Champions League nights at Cliftonville are "not too far away" after the Toronto Investment Group‘s [TIG] takeover of the club.

Cliftonville members voted in favour of a TIG takeover on Monday, and the group have said they will invest £3million in first 36 months.

TIG will have a 90% share of the 147-year-old club, with the remaining percentage retained by the membership.

"We make no bones about it, this is not a plaything for us, this is an amazing opportunity," Devine told BBC Sport NI's Thomas Kane.

"From a Cliftonville perspective, Larne were playing a few weeks ago in the Champions League at Inver Park - I want to be back [there].

"I sat in this ground when Cliftonville played Celtic in the Champions League [qualifiers in 2013], and it was full. Those are the nights I don't think are too far away if we can execute and hit the ground running.

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Image source, BBC Sport

There was a huge result for the Irish League last night as Larne beat 10-man Lincoln Red Imps 2-0 in the first leg of their Uefa Conference League play-off in Gibraltar, thanks to goals from Paul O'Neill and Kevin O'Hara.

They are just 90 minutes away from reaching the league phase of the competition for the first time.

Will they finish the job at Inver Park?

Image source, BBC Sport

Hi everyone!

Ballymena will aim to get back to winning ways against Glentoran on Friday night, a game which will be streamed live on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport app and website.

Coverage is presented by Nicola McCarthy with studio guest Paul Leeman, match commentary from Thomas Kane with Philip Lowry and Jana McCabe is on pitchside duties.

We'll also have updates from Linfield's game with Cliftonville in tonight's second game.

Thanks for joining us!