STEVE Cotterill believes Gifton Noel-Williams will be a big hit at Burnley.

The striker, 25, became the fourth new face of the summer after agreeing a two-year deal at Turf Moor, where he links up with former Potteries strike partner Ade Akinbiyi.

And Cotterill, who is delighted at having two powerhouse strikers on the books, today expressed his delight at landing another of his top targets.

He explained: "Gifton is a strong, powerful striker who is especially good at holding up the ball. I don't expect him to be running all over the place like Ade, but you need that little bit of variation and it's a luxury to have two strikers again.

"When you look at the free transfer list, Gifton is arguably one of the best on there and how often do you pick up a six-foot striker for free who holds the ball up well and scores goals?

"He has exercised his right to go somewhere else and hopefully it all adds up to a recipe for success."

Noel-Williams, who began his career at Watford, burst onto the scene by hitting double figures in successive seasons at Vicarage Road before cruciate knee ligament surgery halted his progress.

However, he scotched fears over his footballing future by topping City's goalscoring charts for two seasons running following a free transfer to the Britannia Stadium in 2003.

The former England youth international, who scored 23 goals in 91 appearances for City, was again a sought-after free transfer before Cotterill beat off the challenge of Championship rivals Sheffield Wednesday and Brighton for his signature yesterday.

Cotterill added: "I know other clubs wanted Gifton but I didn't delve too deeply into that and I'm just delighted to have another striker who is a good character and will be a welcome addition to the dressing room.

"He probably knows Micah Hyde from his days at Watford better than anybody and that will also stand him in good stead for settling in."

Noel-Williams joins another former Stoke colleague, Wayne Thomas, and Bournemouth duo Wade Elliott and Garreth O'Connor as Cotterill's summer of scouring England and Europe for new signings continues to reap rewards.

He revealed: "We've managed to sign four players in as many weeks and I don't think anyone knows just how hard that has been. That gives us 13 players now and without the work that has been done already this summer, we would have been struggling to even field a team."