Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Crues will battle to the death
CRUSADERS boss Stephen Baxter insists the champions can’t afford to adopt a defeatist attitude in the final stretch of the Danske Bank Premiership.
Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Dungannon Swifts left the Seaview men six points behind second placed Ballymena United and 12 adrift of leaders
Linfield.
With only 10 games to play, hopes of retaining the title are all but gone, but Baxter is determined his players “keep fighting to the death”.
Ahead of tonight’s home clash with fifth-placed Coleraine, he said: “There are still a lot of points to be fought for and we have to see where the next few games take us.
“Obviously last Saturday’s defeat at Dungannon has left us playing catch-up on Linfield and Ballymena, but we have to keep going and keep fighting to the death.”
Elsewhere tonight, basement club ARDS know a win over INSTITUTE at the Bangor Fuels Arena would take them off the bottom of the table and above Newry City on goal difference.
Colin Nixon’s men are on a six game losing streak, while Stute are also seeking to end a run of five defeats in all competitions, including Saturday’s 2-1 home loss to Ballymena.
DUNGANNON, fresh from an impressive 1-0 Irish Cup win at Glenavon on Monday night, host WARRENPOINT TOWN at Stangmore Park.
Kris Lindsay’s men are in a rich vein of form, having won six and drawn one of their last eight outings.