Stephen Baxter has paid homage to his high-flying Crues and insists that the glare of the BBC cameras will pose no problems to his team when they face Linfield on Friday night.
At the weekend, the Seaview club beat Glentoran 5-2 thanks to a Jordan Owens double, goals from Ross Clarke and Billy Joe Burns and a sensational strike from Paul Heatley.
Baxter said that he was pleased with his players approached the game: “We certainly did our homework on Glentoran and then put that into action. We controlled large parts of the game and got the goals at the right time.
"Glentoran are a much improved team this year, we were expecting a big challenge from them and the first half was a tight affair. We got that one goal advantage and then we pressed on in the second half. It was a game that I was anxious about but we were good value for our win.”
Crusaders currently sit atop the Irish League and have comfortably outscored the other clubs so far, which is pleasing Baxter to no end.
“It is important at this stage of the season that we try to amass as many points as we can,” said the Crues boss. “This is the first round of games and we still have Linfield and Ballymena to play to complete the first round of games. Once you play everyone it gives you it gives you a better feel of where you are.
“It has been pleasing so far, we have a good number of points on the board and two big games coming up against probably the two best teams of last season. So that will give us a good indicator as to where we are.”
The next fixture is a live televised game against Linfield in Seaview and Baxter insists that the spotlight won’t distract his players.
“The BBC coverage has really got no bearing on the game, the players don’t really take that into consideration,” said Baxter.
He continued: “We simply prepare for a game of football. The boys are used to playing in big games so it is not something that they are unfamiliar with and there is no pressure around that. We get on with our week’s preparations and get ready to play a team who are flying at the moment.
“It is a fixture that we always look forward to and the fixtures have all been closely fought in the last few years. So we will see what Friday night brings but it is a fixture we are always keen to play.”
Elsewhere this weekend, Cliftonville took the lead against Ballymena only for Jeffrey’s Sky Blues to come back to win 2-1.
Linfield put Glenavon to the sword at Windsor Park in a ruthless 7-0 victory, with Shayne Lavery continuing to impress with a hat-trick.
Larne held Coleraine to a scoreless draw at The Showgrounds, while Dungannon Swifts claimed a 2-1 win over Carrick Rangers.
And new Institute manager Sean Connor picked up his first win as the Derry club beat basement side Warrenpoint 3-1.
