Four goal hero Eetu Vertainen believes Linfield boss David Healy has given him the perfect platform to show his true worth as a striker and add further silverware to his CV.
The elegant Finn was in unstoppable form in Saturday’s 5-0 win over Dungannon Swifts, a commanding result that keeps the Blues out in front in the title race.
Vertainen, who joined the Big Two giants on loan from St Johnstone in January, opened his account for the club in the 12th minute, before adding a further three.
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Four classy finishes in 60 frantic minutes contrasted sharply with the fact his previous four club goals spanned 302 days.
Best day of his goal scoring career so far? “To be honest, yes, it must be, at least goal wise,” said Vertainen.
“I haven’t scored four goals in a game at professional level before so it was a great day.
"The first goal gave me confidence and when I scored the second one, I was sure I’d go on and score more.
“My brother Vella was over to watch as well so I’m feeling great.”
Asked if he has a point to prove at Linfield, Vertainen, whose last outing for St Johnstone came in a 2-0 league defeat to Rangers at Ibrox in December. said: “Yes, absolutely.
"It’s my time to show everyone who I am and show that I can score goals. I don’t have any goal targets as such, but hopefully they’ll come.”
"When you go on loan you need to prove yourself, both to your new team and to your old team, and I think I’ve been doing that OK.
“The expectations are very high here but when I played for HJK Helsinki you were expected to win every game and win the league every time so it’s kind of the same vibe here.
“I enjoy it because the expectations make you a better player.”
Vertainen opened his Linfield account with an eye-catching finish in the 12th minute before beating Dwayne Nelson from the tightest of angles to make it 2-0 on the half hour mark.
Chris McKee added a third before Vertainen completed his hat-trick in the 68th minute, chopping his way past Cahal McGinty to clip the ball past Nelson.
Four minutes later, he had his fourth, and this one was bordering on cheeky as he nutmegged Nelson with a first-time finish from Kirk Millar’s cross.
Since losing to Glentoran at the BetMcLean Oval on February 11, Linfield have taken maximum points from their last five league games.
Their final regular season fixture prior to the Premiership splitting into the top six and bottom six is against Warrenpoint Town at Milltown on Saturday.
“We set a goal after the Glentoran game of winning all six games before the split,” said Vertainen. “That’s five in a row now, so one more before the split.”
With only six games to play, Linfield are four points clear of Cliftonville, who have a game in hand, and five above Big Two rivals Glentoran who drew 1-1 at Ballymena United.
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