In-form quartet win to snap at the heels of Coleraine

Who says it is too early to look at the Irish Premiership table?

It is, off course, too early to be talking about title races, European places and relegation battles but there has been plenty to ponder after a week four of the Irish Premiership which yielded a clean sweep of five away wins.

Currently, four teams sit on nine points after winning three games and losing one, the in-form quartet tucked in just one point behind early leaders Coleraine.

Dungannon Swifts, Carrick Rangers, Crusaders and Linfield all won their fixtures on Saturday to occupy second to fifth and have impressed so far.

But what have those four teams shown during the early weeks of this season? BBC Sport NI explores some of the talking points from within each club.

For Dungannon Swifts, the most obvious improvement has been the manner in which they have recovered from their opening day defeat.

Rodney McAree's side began the campaign with a 3-1 home loss against Coleraine, but have responded with victories over Portadown, Bangor and Cliftonville.

That represents a significant improvement on last season when the Swifts made a really concerning start to the campaign and lost their opening five league fixtures.

Dungannon have secured a top six finish for the past two seasons and manager Rodney McAree will want to repeat the feat this term.

Midfielder Sean McAllister has already stood out, scoring three goals so far and has been heavily involved when the Swifts push into the final third.

New signings such as Kris Lowe have also impressed with former Portadown boss Niall Currie saying the Swifts side is the "strongest" it has ever been, as they aim to seal another chance at European football.

"I look at Rodney McAree's squad now and, to me, this is the strongest Dungannon squad there has been," Currie said on Sportsound.

"Rodney has gone out and got strength and depth. Some of the players who are not even making the squad at the minute for the Swifts are a lot of players who would certainly have started a few years ago."

After last season's seventh-place finish and resultant play-off involvement, and with the team overflowing with Irish League experience, it is maybe no surprise that Carrick have made a strong start to the campaign.

Paul Heatley continues to be a threat in their attack and certainly does not perform like a player who had to be persuaded out of retirement by manager Stephen Baxter in the summer.

The 39-year-old, who signed a new one-year deal during the summer, has already netted three goals so far with his partnership with Danny Gibson continuing to give the opposition's defence headaches.

During their emphatic 4-0 win over Bangor, they were also denied by the woodwork four times with Seasiders manager Lee Feeney saying that his side "were lucky it was only four", showing the complete dominance that Carrick enjoyed.

It will be a big next few fixtures for Stephen Baxter's side, who face Linfield, Cliftonville Ballymena United, Larne and Glentoran in September.

After only securing their Premiership status last season through the promotion/relegation play-off and then losing their opening fixture against rivals Cliftonville, early alarm bells may have been starting to sound among Crusaders fans.

They have certainly stopped now, though, with the side showing their grit to earn a 2-1 win over Glentoran at the Oval and extend their winning sequence to three.

Following a dismal 2025-26 campaign, it was a challenging off season for Declan Caddell, who has had to rebuild his team following key player's exits such as Fraser Bryden and Musa Dibaga.

Caddell opted once again to explore the Scottish market during the transfer window and, so far, the new signings have impressed with Scots Owen Wardell and Aaron Reid scoring in east Belfast.

Last season, the Crues struggled due to relying on Bryden for goals but pressing on the counter-attack has emerged as one of the new tactics the side are using early this season.

"They have been good on the counter-attack. When they have done it, they have created opportunities," said Sean Ward after their win over Glentoran.

"Crusaders have relied on hitting on the counter which is a strategy I have no doubt they will use for much of the season.

"It has worked massively for them."

Few clubs will attract as much attention after an opening day defeat as Linfield did when they lost against Ballymena United, a result that immediately raised questions around how the side would respond.

However, after another professional display from the Blues which saw them breeze past Limavady, they have now won three games in a row and registered clean sheets in their past two matches.

At the Limavady Showgrounds, Adam Frizzell assisted Matthew Fitzptarick's opening goal of the season before scoring himself in the second half.

Questions still remain around the Linfield squad and its depth which will likely be tested as the season progresses, but the side have already shown the qualities needed to bounce back from disappointment.

The experienced David Healy will know more than most that the table will change constantly but he will also be aware that the opening weekends are far from irrelevant as the race for the Gibson Cup starts to heat up.