Crusaders director Steven Baxter says David Jeffery is still the best in the business.

Crusaders manager Steven Baxter insists only David Jeffery can pull Ballymena United out of the relegation quagmire.

The Sky Blues suffered their fifth loss to Cruz in the Danske Bank premiership campaign at Seaview on Friday night, finishing just one point ahead of 11th-placed Dungannon Swift.

Philip Lowry’s fifth league goal came before the efforts of defender Jarrus O’Rourke and hard-working Jordan Forsythe ensured the Baxter boys were level with Glentoran at the top of the table. I made good progress with the host.

They also added to the woes of Jeffrey, who offered to step away from work after losing to the Carrick Rangers last week.

However, Baxter maintains that Jeffrey is still the best manager in the country.

“It’s a very competitive business that we’re all in, and the level of expectation from our fans is always high,” Baxter said.

“It’s not so easy not to be aware of or invisible to an injury or problem off the pitch.

“Then we have some bad defeats. He has lost four or five football matches. There is no better manager in the country.

“I have seen David Jeffery work and have been a friend and played with him for a long time. He won a lot of trophies for Linfield. No. He is ahead of anyone in this league as a manager.

“He went to Ballymena United and pushed them out of the bottom six and into the top six. saw.

“I remember him (Jeffrey) taking the trophy to the Ballymena fans when it was packed. It has brought the team together very well over the years.

“If you think of Barymina as an apocalyptic scenario, then something else will happen.”

It was a glowing reference from Baxter (right), That team had just turned in another performance of smooth precision and utterly stubborn determination, with no shortage of skill.

“We scored three goals and missed seven sitters. That was the level of our performance,” he added.

“I tried the players later because I might need those goals later. That’s my perfectionist.

“Paul Heatley hit the post when he could have scored with his eyes closed. Because I have to work.

“They’re a shrewd group of players who qualified for last year’s Irish Cup Final, so we’re happy with our work.”

Jeffrey was optimistic about his team’s display, although there’s still a lot to work on.

“Of course I was disappointed with the result, but I was encouraged by the performance.

“The full-time versus part-time reality was very clear.

“Well done Crusaders. They deserved the win and they played great.

“For my own players, they never gave up, they kept going until the end. You need a little bit of luck to get anything out of these games.

“We were threatened three times, but we weren’t so lucky in front of goal.

“Having said that, I had to be heroic when the players threw themselves in front of shots and crosses. rice field.

“You have to face the realities of full-time and part-time.”