Peter Lorimer: Now United need Healy great show from Ireland hero
I DON'T know where you get leprechauns from, but tonight ahead of the Coca-Cola Championship clash with Preston at Elland Road Leeds United should strategically place one in every corner of their dressing room.
They should also play a reel, dance a warm-up jig and wear green vests under their white shirts.
And the reason? David Healy might then feel he's playing for his country and transfer to his club the Northern Ireland goalscoring exploits for which he has become feted.
While banging them in left, right and centre for Lawrie Sanchez's Euro dazzlers, Healy has been on target just four times in his last 26 games for Leeds and will be the first to admit that it is a disappointing return.
Everybody has been asking why he can be so lethal at international level yet struggle in the Coca-Cola Championship and the short answer, I believe, centres on confidence.
Leeds United is a team as a whole that has for some time been suffering from a lack of confidence and self-belief.
It is a mindset which, once adopted, can spread like wildfire and I think David has become caught up in this.
It is different when he's playing for his country.
They'll be the underdog in nine out of 10 games they play so, by and large, they have little to prove.
Expectation levels are not very high so any achievement is a bonus.
Lawrie said after David bagged another two goals in a memorable win over Sweden the other night that you actually have to be at Windsor Park to fully appreciate the David Healy phenomenon in Northern Ireland.
Dennis Wise and Gus Poyet took him at his word and were there to witness his brace; each of them a stunning goal taken with opportunism, swagger and bravado.
It is likely that Healy will be partnered up front tonight by Richard Cresswell and it will have escaped the attention of nobody that this was once a Preston strikeforce which between them notched 40 goals a season.
Whatever the reason – and a lot of it is down to injury – that simply has not happened in Leeds colours.
What better time, then, for both of them to dig deep and get on the scoresheet against their old club?
This is a big, big game for both Leeds and Preston and for vastly different reasons.
If Leeds are to survive this relegation dogfight they must, I believe, win their remaining four home games and get at least something from one or two of their away trips.
Defeat tonight would potentially be disastrous, especially when you take into account two very significant fixtures tomorrow.
With Hull playing Southend and Burnley taking on Luton something will have to give in the relegation picture and a win for Leeds tonight would put all of them on the back foot.
Luton's trip to Burnley is a first venture for their new manager Kevin Blackwell, with whom we are all familiar.
I wish Kevin well in a new job in which he can carry forward all the experience he gained in his first managerial role with Leeds.
I warned last week of the difficulties England would face on their trip to Israel and these were born out in a horribly dull goalless draw.
England fared no better in the first half against Andorra in midweek and it was only when they woke up in the second period that things came together.
What has become abundantly clear to me is that England are lacking quality players and, as I have been warning for some time, it will not be until the Football Association and the Professional Footballers Association take serious action about the number of foreign players in the English game that homegrown individuals will be allowed to demonstrate their talents.
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