Former Preston North End, Leeds United, Rangers and Sunderland figure linked with League Two job

Former Preston North End striker David Healy could be set for his first job in English management after being linked with a League Two vacancy.

Healy has been in management since 2015 after taking charge of Linfield in his native Northern Ireland, and has been hugely successful at Windsor Park. He has won five NIFL Premiership titles and two Irish Cups, and his success in Northern Ireland has attracted the attention of a club that is searching for a new manager.

Former Sky Sports journalist Pete O'Rourke, who now works for Football Insider, says that Healy is 'being considered' for the vacant position at Grimsby Town. He is third favourite for the job in the markets behind former Huddersfield Town and Portsmouth boss Danny Cowley, and Nathan Rooney.

Despite the speculation, Healy is to continue as normal, and will take charge of Linfield’s Northern Ireland League Cup clash with Glentoran this evening. His Blues side are currently eight points clear of nearest place Larne with just a little before half of a season gone.

Should he return to England, he will look back on his time spent in the country with fond memories given the clubs that he played for and the success that he had.

Healy had a respectable 14-year playing career that began at Manchester United, where he made one senior appearance. He was loaned out to Port Vale, and later PNE where he scored four minutes into his debut, and then he signed for a reported £1.5m in 2000.

The 95-time Northern Ireland striker scored 45 goals in 156 games for North End, and helped them reach the Championship play-off final in 2005, where they lost 1-0 to West Ham United at the Millennium Stadium.

He had two loan spells at Norwich City, before heading to Leeds United where he spent three seasons, scoring 31 goals in 121 games. Six years after making his Premier League debut for Man United, he was signed by Fulham and later Sunderland, before dropping down into the Championship with Ipswich Town and Doncaster Rovers. His career finished with two seasons at Rangers, bfore joining Bury before they ceased to exist.