Despite missing out on victory in the closing stages of Saturday’s 2-2 Premiership draw against Ballymena United, Crusaders manager Declan Caddell focused on the positives and feels his young squad are learning crucial lessons.

Jarlath O’Rourke put the Crues ahead before Kian Corbally levelled proceedings for the hosts, but Caddell’s men responded quickly through Finley Thorndike.

With three minutes left of normal time, Ballymena substitute Danny Lafferty fired home a wicked effort from distance to salvage a late point in a thrilling contest at The Showgrounds.

While the Crues currently sit 10th ahead of Tuesday’s trip to defending champions Linfield, they’ve now put together a three-game unbeaten run and Caddell insists his side are on an upward trajectory.

placeholder image — Josh Williamson impressed for Crusaders during Saturday's dramatic draw with Ballymena United. (Photo by Pacemaker)

"It was credit to both teams, both sets of players left everything on the pitch,” he said. "A draw was probably a fair result.

"Ballymena had a load of opportunities, so did we, it could have ended up 5-5 or 6-6.

"Credit goes to the players. Obviously it's sore to take when you concede with three or four minutes to go, but credit to the players – they dug in and defended really, really well.

"It takes a wee bit of magic from Laff to settle it from 25 yards...you've just got to take it and move on.

"When you look back at the start of the season, if we were in that same scenario, we probably would have folded, which shows the young lads are learning.

"I just thought we were probably hemmed in a wee bit too much the second half. We didn't want to get our foot on the ball, although it was difficult.

"The pitch was really difficult for both teams today. But they defended bravely. They put their bodies on the line, worked extremely hard and that's all you can ask for.

"This is a difficult place to come. We've seen already this season the results Ballymena have picked up here, especially at the start of the season.

"We always knew it was going to be difficult. The pitch didn't help both sides, but you have to adapt to the elements, adapt to the surface and look to get a result. But as I say, it's credit to both sides, the players, because they left everything on that pitch.”

Caddell’s squad has been ravaged by injuries at stages throughout the current campaign, but he’s beginning to welcome key players back into the fold with Jordan Forsythe making his first appearance since mid-September on Saturday.

Goalscorer Thorndike started a first Premiership match in two months at The Showgrounds while Jacob Blaney also continues to work his way back to full fitness.

"We're trying to ease Finley in, he missed two months of football,” added Caddell. "You have that experience coming back onto the pitch to manage a game too with Jordan Forsythe when you're 2-1 up...I thought we did for parts.

"It's all positive, you've just got to move on to the next one. There's five or six still more to come, which is good.

"Obviously Stewart Nixon's on the bench, he's still not where he should be, same with Jacob Blaney, same with Jordan, but I just want to feed these boys in gently, because we can't afford any more injuries.

"So we've just got to nurse them back to where they should be, and that'll take a few weeks. But listen, there’s still a lot to play for this season.”