After starting their season with victories over Ballymena United and Dungannon Swifts, victory over Glenavon on Tuesday night will see Linfield move nine points ahead of Larne before the defending champions have kicked a ball in league action this season.
With their UEFA Conference League first leg against Lincoln Red Imps on Thursday night, Tiernan Lynch’s side are one step away from qualifying for the group stages of the competition with their European participation set to continue, meaning their first league game is currently scheduled for September 1.
Linfield’s visit to Mourneview Park, which will be shown live on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website, is the third of five matches the Blues are expected to play before returning to their home ground of Larne, but manager David Healy is not worried about building a buffer over his title rivals.
“We’ll just worry about the game against Glenavon on Tuesday and nothing more than that,” he said.
“Generally it’s a very tough venue so we’ve got to perform well, we’ve got to perform a little bit better than we probably did (against Dungannon).”
Linfield midfielder Kyle McLean will put league rivalries to one side on Thursday night as he focuses on his side’s big match this week.
“I’m sure (Larne) will take his chances and as a league I think everyone else will be keeping a close eye on it,” he said.
“Good luck to them, and if they do it that will be good for them.
“As a nation and as a league we have to prove that the league is progressing, and I think it is progressing.”