Ever the perfectionist, Linfield boss David Healy insisted there was still “room for improvement” – even though his side romped to three crucial points with a 4-0 victory over Crusaders at Windsor Park on Saturday.

With table-topping Coleraine and Larne winning the previous night, the pressure was on the reigning champions to deliver – and they didn’t disappoint.

They were given a helping hand by Crues defender Lewis Barr, who drilled a Kirk Millar corner kick into his own net after only five minutes, and when Matthew Fitzpatrick headed a second, the writing was on the wall for the visitors.

Callumn Morrison then helped himself to a delicious second half double to seal the deal, keeping the Blues in the slipstream of the top-two.

placeholder image — Linfield's Callumn Morrison scored a brace in their victory over Crusaders. (Photo by Desmond Loughery/Pacemaker Press)

The Scot, however, missed the chance of a first league hat-trick when his late penalty kick was saved by Crues goalkeeper Jonny Tuffey.

Although Healy’s men are still seven points adrift, significantly, they have played three games less than the Bannsiders, while they also have a game in hand over Larne.

“We warned the players that Crusaders were coming off a bad result last week (a four-nil defeat at home to Portadown), and to expect a positive reaction,” he said. “Decky (Caddell) and big Chicken (Jordan Owens) are proud Crusaders men, so that would have hurt them.

“I spoke with Decky before the game, and I felt his frustration and pain. The worry was, they would get some sort of reaction. But we took the sting out of them with the early goal, albeit a soft one.

"It gave us a cushion to go and play. We were a bit more comfortable.

“If I’m going to be overly critical, we probably should have had more goals – and that’s not being disrespectful to Decky and his team. What pleased me was the fact we snuffed out the potential of conceding goals.”

Healy believes there is more to come from his team.

“I wouldn’t say it was one of our better performances, but it was one of our better results,” he added. “It was acceptable, performance wise.

“I always hope for a little bit more...that’s probably the need, the want and the greed in me, wanting perfection all the time, which we are not going to get.

“We still have more in the tank to come. Overall, I was pleased with the outcome; pleased with the result and the clean sheet.”

Caddell’s team remain marooned in 11th place in the Premiership table, eight points above rock-bottom Glenavon.

“It’s the second time in a week we’ve been beaten by four goals, so things must change,” he said. “It’s individual errors that are costing us.

“Our decision making is poor, and that’s not just from the young lads in the group. You can’t concede after five minutes and 10 minutes after that and expect to win a football game. The game plans go out of the window...we are left to chase the game early on. It’s now happening far too often.

“The first goal knocked the stuffing out of us, the second knocked the confidence completely.

"It was the last thing we needed with the run we are on at the minute.”