David Healy hopes he can repay the hard work of Willie McKeown by leading Linfield to the league title this season.

The Blues Head of Recruitment, who Healy calls his "biggest confidante and ally", had a busy January securing the signatures of Kieran Offord and Callumn Morrison for the club.

Healy admitted he was unsure whether they would be able to land both of their main targets saying it was all down to McKeown in the end and now the Linfield boss wants to repay him for getting the transfers over the line.

READ MORE: Jim Ervin feels emotion being taken out of the game as managers fear punishment

READ MORE: Neil Lennon makes Steven Gerrard claim as speculation intensifies over Rangers return

"Not only do I thank the club for the January transfers but also Willie, who stays in the background but is my biggest confidante and ally, and he made it happen," said Healy.

""Callumn is a player we thought we had maybe done last January, he decided to stay at Falkirk, but we pursued him again and got him. When we talked about Kieran we knew there were a lot of turns it had to take given he was a St Mirren player.

"I said to Willie that we may not get one of the players, but fair play to him with his professionalism, work and knowledge he went out of his way to not only only go and get the players in for the football club but more importantly for me as manager he went completely out of his way to make it happen.

"I just hope we can go and finish the season strongly and I can be eternally grateful for the work and dedication Willie McKeown gives me at this football club."

The Blues can take a big step towards the title with victory over Larne tonight but Healy said Friday night's dramatic draw with Ballymena United served as a perfect reminder that the race Irish Premiership crown is far from over.

Many pundits have been crowning the Blues as the new league champions as they currently sit 17 points clear of nearest rivals Glentoran in the table.

But you certainly won't hear any of that from inside the Linfield camp with Healy insisting the race for the Gibson Cup is far from done ahead of the reigning champions visit to Windsor Park.

"I keep hearing the title is over, but Friday night was an opportunity to remind the players and for them to remind each other, that if you are going to be successful it has to be day on day and game on game," said Healy.

"We have six game coming up before the split - four at home and two away - and we want to maximise the points available to us. We're looking forward to Tuesday night, Larne are a very good side.

"I'm not focusing on what Larne will do, my only concern is what we are going to do. I want us to be all guns blazing and go and win the game and that has to be the attitude for us all.

"I will pick a team based on that after we see where we are with one or two of the players after Friday night's game. We will pick a string team to go and attack Larne and hopefully pick up the three points."

Join Belfast Live’s new Irish League WhatsApp group. Click this link to receive the latest Irish League headlines and breaking news direct to your phone. We also treat our members to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our group, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice