DAVID MOYES has hailed former Rangers striker David Healy as one of Northern Ireland's "greats".

The Manchester United gaffer snapped up Healy when he was Preston North End boss back in 2001 and the Northern Irishman almost single handedly shot the Deepdale side into the Premiership.

But after ending his international career with a record breaking 36 goals from 95 appearances, then failing to find a club following his release by Bury at the end of last season, Healy has hung his boots up.

Moyes said: "David was one of his country's greats. He was also fantastic for us at Preston, I remember phoning Sir Alex [Ferguson] about him and paying about £1.5million, which was quite a lot of money at that time.

"He came in the January when we had about 20 games to go. He scored 10 goals in those 20 games and got us to the play-off final.

"He could score from tight angles and possessed a real strength in his shooting for a small guy. He had come from good stock at Manchester United."

Although Moyes moved on to Everton for 11 years and then United earlier this summer the Old Trafford boss has kept an eye on Healy's career and feels he deserved to be acknowledged as one of Northern Ireland's best.

Moyes said: "I have a lot of fondness for boys from Northern Ireland because my mother was from there, but in a period when Northern Irish football was just dropping, he was the one who kept it going because he was able to get them a goal in big games.

"His goals per game ratio was remarkable."