AUSTRIA, July 2004.

Frank Sinclair is 40-feet high on a wooden platform as his new Burnley team mates urge him to over come a fear of heights and make a giant leap of faith.

Sinclair duly disappears into the icy river below and the daunting initiation is complete.

If ever there was a defining moment when a player gained respect among his equals, then this was it.

Clarets boss Steve Cotterill already knew Sinclair would be a key player if he could land his catch.

The rest of his players now know that, when the time arrives to sink or swim, the Jamaican defender will be giving his all to bail Burnley out.

And soon, Burnley fans will learn that Sinclair refuses to wallow in the mire - even at a club rated as 25/1 rank outsiders to make the big leap into the Premiership.

Sinclair, raring to go in his competitive Clarets debut against Sheffield United on Saturday, roared: "I've not come here to consolidate. I've come here to be successful.

"The first thing I want to do is get this club into the Premier League. It's going to be a hard task and I think we might need a few more bodies, but the main core of the team is pretty strong and I'm quite happy with the quality of the players here."

Sinclair has already given Burnley fans a glimpse of what they can expect in the recent Turf Moor friendly against Everton.

Twice he came close to scoring, before finally making it third time lucky in Germany during Burnley's pre-season tour - where Sinclair also shone in defence.

But the former Leicester and Chelsea defender warned Burnley fans there is still much more to come at both ends of the pitch.

He revealed: "I enjoyed the game at home against Everton. I think the fans took to me straight away I feel I should have scored with the header.

"But I'll get forward at every opportunity and try to get my fair share of goals. The fans here certainly haven't seen anything like the best of me yet and, hopefully, I can drag the players along with me as well."

Confident words from a defender still finding his way to Turf Moor, let alone finding his feet!

Sinclair admitted: "I don't know that much about Burnley, to be fair. I know I scored an own goal up here a couple of years ago when I came here with Leicester, but I'm not really clued up much about the north.

"As I go along though, I'll certainly get to know about the history of the club and everything. That stuff is important."

Somehow, it's hard to visualise the larger-than-life defender sitting quietly in a corner of the local library, brushing up on the Clarets illustrious past.

But on the eve of a brand new season, let me take you back to that bridge in Austria.

Sinclair is once more ready to leap in at the deep end - and Burnley's First Division rivals had better watch out!