Linfield manager David Jeffrey said last night that it was his decision alone to leave Peter Thompson out of the starting line-up against Dinamo Zagreb but he poured praise on Conor Downey who fought tirelessly in a rare attacking role.

Zagreb won the Champions League qualifier at Windsor Park 2-0 after goals from Mario Mandzukic and Dino Drpic.

But the biggest cheer of the night arrived in the 75th minute when Thompson leapt from the bench to make what is likely to be his last appearance for the club.

The Linfield board will meet this morning to discuss the two bids for Thommo and Jeffrey admitted his star man could soon be packing his bags for England.

“I chose to leave Peter out because I could not imagine he would be totally focused with everything going on in his head,” he said.

“Conor (Downey) was excellent and there were no deals made at all. It was my decision to leave Peter out for 75 minutes.

“He’s a Linfield player and Peter will be kept informed of all the developments when the Board consider the two offers.

“It is likely that Peter will go but at the moment he’s a Linfield player.

“We have been going back and forward to different clubs and only Norwich City and Stockport County have expressed an interest in writing.

“Peter said he wants to play at the highest level he can so we have tried to protect the player and club and get something which is beneficial to everyone.”

Kilmarnock boss Jim Jefferies, who had two bids for Thompson rejected by the Blues, was at Windsor Park last night.

Jeffrey also admitted last night that the club received a written offer from Ballymena United for Downey who handed in a transfer request this summer.

Reflecting on last night’s clash, Jeffrey added: “The players were tremendous. I apologised to Sky TV because they are a high quality outfit and we couldn’t afford to hit them with waves of attacks.

“I was concerned before this game but the players were magnificent. Defensively and in midfield we are still strong but we know we will need strikers. Noel (Bailie) and William (Murphy) were immense. We just need frontmen.”