David Healy: Linfield won't be giving Danske Bank Premiership crown up without a fight

​That was very much evident at Windsor Park on Saturday as the Blues, who have lifted the Gibson Cup for the past four years, demolished ailing Newry City with a seven-goal blitz.

The irrepressible Joel Cooper bagged four of them, with Chris McKee – who netted twice – and Matthew Clarke also getting in on the scoring stakes.

With now only six games of an intriguing Danske Bank Premiership title race remaining, Healy’s boys remain seven points adrift of high-flying Larne, who beat Ballymena United on Friday, but the former Northern Ireland striker isn’t for tossing in the towel.

“Good champions go down fighting,” he said. “If we go down fighting, we’ll see where it takes us.

“There are still a lot of points to be played for – there is a lot of pressure on teams in and around the top six.

“It will not be a shoo-in for any side. We’ll be doing our best to make people work for any success they achieve.

“Larne are at the top of the League for a reason – they’ve been the best team so far. They’ve been the best team against the top six sides and also the bottom six.

“We’ve a lot of fighting to do, but I’ve already spoken to the players about it.

"We are the champions, so if we go down, we’ll go down on our sword.

“We are not done yet, we are still in and around (the top). We’ll continue to push and push to see where it takes us.

"Every team still has something to play for over the final six games.

"Our aim is to win all our remaining fixtures, but that still may not be enough.”

Healy doffed his cap at the finishing prowess of four-goal Cooper.

“Joel is ultra professional, and he worries about his performance,” he added.

“Others can have a poor game and get on with it, but because Joel is a little bit more sensitive, it has taken him more time to get going again after coming back from England.

“Sometimes player can return a little bit scarred. There is no doubting his ability.

"I thought some of his goals were top drawer particularly his third one, it was a hell of a finish.”

Although his team shipped seven goals, Newry City boss Darren Mullen was far from down beat about their performance.

“The reality is, and it’s not an excuse, our budget wouldn’t be as big as some of the Championship teams,” he said.

“It will sound daft, but there were large parts of that game we played well.

“We came up against a top-class side that have a lot of quality strikers.

“We got punished for every mistake against a full-time team.

“It’s my heaviest defeat as a manager, but it’s a result we must wipe from the system. We know we have six games left.

“We are in a position that both Dungannon and Portadown would love to be in – we have to make sure we finish the season in the right manner.”