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Steven Crawford

Stephen Baxter hails direction league is going in

Stephen Baxter is bracing himself for another fascinating season saying the Irish Premiership has "improved tenfold" in the last three years.

We are less than a month away from the start of the new season and the Crusaders boss is predicting another enthralling battle for the Gibson Cup.

And while many point to a gap between the top six and bottom six teams in the league, Baxter has praised all clubs for the work they are doing on and off the pitch to help improve the overall product.

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"I think our league has improved tenfold in the last three years," he said.

"I'm not just saying that because it's an easy thing to say.

"When you see the work that's going on behind the scenes at Ballymena, Carrick Rangers, Newry etc it's incredible.

"Pitches are improving, coaches are improving, players are improving and crowd numbers are up.

"We just have so much going on in our league that we should be very proud of.

"I've been doing this for a long time and I have seen these improvements. It's just brilliant what we're doing and how we're doing it.

"We need to work hard at it and keep that level of enthusiasm up.

"It doesn't seem like a year since I was asked how I see the league shaping up, it has gone in a flash.

"Last year's prediction was exactly how I thought it would be, which was six incredibly competitive teams.

"It's a lengthy campaign and it comes down to how you can cope with it.

"Teams can be up there and then lose key players and then they can't sustain it.

"That's why you get teams winning a cup because you only need to win five games of football.

"They always say the best team wins the league and Larne were the best team last season.

"The next big part of that is can Larne do it again? Will Linfield get stronger? Will Glentoran and Cliftonville get a new manager bounce?

"Coleraine have added to their squad and got stronger. We have added and probably got a little bit stronger in squad depth.

"So you're going to have another competitive competition with those six and then the other six will be in there looking to be a part of it also and will be in there fighting like crazy, taking points of others and creating a fantastic league."


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