Stephen Baxter 'convinced things will turn' for Crusaders after Premiership defeat to Linfield despite being 'the better team'

Blues midfielder Josh Archer hit the only goal of the game to not only condemn the Crues to their third successive league defeat, but keep his team four points clear at the top.

The 20-year-old struck just before the half-hour mark, finishing off a sublime pass from midfielder Kyle McClean.

But after that the Blues were hanging on at times as the Crues looked to repair the damage.

Goalkeeper Chris Johns was forced to produce a marvellous save, low to his right, to keep out a stinging drive from Lloyd Anderson before January signing Stewart Nixon blasted a great chance side.

It was David Healy and his team who were relieved to hear the final blast of referee Ian McNabb’s whistle.

“They (Linfield) scored one goal and had one other effort on goal...we had about five efforts,” said Baxter. “We undoubtedly had the better chances in this football match.

“I thought we did extremely well all over the pitch, closing Linfield down and restricting their chances. I felt our performance deserved something.

“That’s been the story of the last four or five weeks because we have been magnificent in our performances, but haven’t had the results to back them up.

“Sometimes you need the rub of the green in football. I’m convinced things will turn for us and, when it does, some team will get an absolute tanking.

“It was Linfield’s boys who were craving the final whistle, but they are a fantastic football team and they find a way to win. They had one big moment, and they took it, they’ll be ultra-pleased the way it tuned out.

“Linfield know we finished the stronger team...we piled on the pressure over the last 20 minutes to get the equaliser. It would be fair to say we were gutted at the finish we didn’t get something from the game.

“We were the better team, so we came away feeling gutting we didn’t get anything from the game.”

Blues boss David Healy admitted his team just did enough to win without reaching the levels expected of them.

“We just couldn’t shake Crusaders off, credit to Stephen and his team," said the former Northern Ireland international striker. “He’s had a few question marks thrown at his players after recent results.

"We knew there would be some sort of reaction. They are battled-hardened; they have enough experience in and around the team to make it really difficult for teams.

“There were moments we threw bodies on the line in the second-half – that’s the type of game we let it become, which was disappointing. Our second-half performance was short of what it needed to be.

“It wasn’t pretty, but we won the game. We kept a clean sheet, so you can’t be too disheartened. I’ve good players and they are honest and everything else – sometimes the level of performance may dip.

“Give me hard work, hunger and honesty over unprofessional, lethargic with a don’t care attitude, every day of the week.

“I can work with players like that because that’s what we need to meet the demands at this football club. Sometimes it’s difficult to reach those expectation levels.”