As a former striker, Linfield defender Euan East hopes to keep the goals flowing

Euan East scored the winning goal in Linfield's victory over Crusaders

David Healy's Linfield side currently lead the Sports Direct Premiership

Scoring goals comes naturally to Linfield defender Euan East, but it’s perhaps no surprise because he used to be a striker.

The 23-year-old popped up with another vital strike in Tuesday night’s League clash with Crusaders at Seaview — his goal seconds before the interval earning David Healy’s men a priceless victory to send them four points clear at the top of the Sports Direct Premiership table.

It’s was East’s third of the season — and one even his manager, Northern Ireland’s record goal scorer David Healy, would have been proud of.

He certainly picks his moments, having grabbed vital goals against Larne and Coleraine before breaking the hearts of Stephen Baxter’s Crues with a classy finish — all arriving inside the past four weeks.

“Hopefully, they keep coming,” said East, who only reverted to his defensive duties in the final two years at his former club Queen of the South.

“The ball just fell to me, and I just swivelled on it and luckily it went into the back of the net. There was a bit of a scrap in the six-yard box, and I just swung at it.

“I’ve scored a few in my time last year as well, I always like to try and get into areas where I can get on the end of something.

“It was a huge three points for us. We’ve just come out of a tough period; the boys have done really well to come through it. It was important to capitalise on our game in hand, so it’s all good.”

Even though David Healy has been deprived of several first team personnel because of the chronic injury pile up at Windsor Park, the Blues have kept churning out results.

“It’s well documented we’ve been missing a