County Antrim Shield final: Cushley form has made up for Heatley absence - Ward

Crusaders defender Sean Ward says David Cushley's fine form has helped to mitigate the absence of injured winger Paul Heatley in recent weeks.

"Any team would miss Paul Heatley but when you have someone to come in who has performed as well as David Cushley has it softens the blow," said Ward.

"As much as we miss Paul, David is our most in-form player at the moment."

"David has always had that quality and he's a fans' favourite at Seaview. He has been excellent but it's important that he keeps that going.

"Jordan Owens is our focal point and Paul brings that bit of spark and magic that all teams crave. When they're out of the team we massively miss them but we have a lot of quality players in our squad who are capable of stepping up and performing."

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The rivalry between the two Belfast clubs has been fierce in recent years and Linfield have had the better of their four meetings this season, winning all three league games, but losing an Irish Cup sixth-round tie in extra-time.

Crusaders beat Larne 1-0 in their Shield semi-final at the end of November while the Blues defeated Ballymena United 2-1 in their twice-postponed last-four encounter at the Showgrounds on 8 January.

The final was scheduled to be played at Ballymena Showgrounds on 5 February but was called off because of a waterlogged pitch.

Concerns over the condition of the playing surface at the Warden Street ground then led the County Antrim FA to seek an alternative venue.

Crusaders subsequently won a toss of a coin between the clubs to host the decider on the rearranged date and so enjoy home advantage for the final.

The Crues are aiming to retain the silverware after defeating Ballymena 4-2 in last year's final.

'Massive opportunity to retain trophy'

"Both teams have a lot of quality so it will probably be the team that makes the fewest mistakes will be the one that comes out victorious," continued the former Linfield and Glentoran player.

"Our performances of late have been very encouraging so we go into the game with a lot of confidence and our form suggests we are capable of winning.

"When it was revealed that the venue for the final would be decided by the toss of a coin I think Linfield were the more disappointed that they were going to have to play at Seaview, even though they have won there twice this season.

"Linfield have been excellent, they are the in-form team, but they are coming in on the back of a disappointing result against Glenavon and will want to bounce back as quickly as possible.

"From our perspective though it's a massive opportunity to retain the trophy we won last year and it's even better that it's a big game against Linfield."

Linfield have lifted the Shield a record 44 times, their last success coming in 2017 when they saw off Stephen Baxter's men 3-1 at the Showgrounds to secure a first trophy triumph for manager David Healy.

The previous final between the two clubs, in 2014, saw Linfield emerge 4-1 winners in a penalty shootout after the match ended in a 0-0 draw.