DAVID Johnson joined Burnley on a month's loan from Nottingham Forest this morning and could be thrown straight into the heat of the promotion battle.

The 25-year-old has teamed up with manager Stan Ternent for the second time and is hoping to face Preston North End in the crunch Red Rose clash at Turf Moor on Sunday.

With leading scorer Gareth Taylor suspended for the next two games after collecting ten bookings, his arrival is a timely boost for the Clarets and confirms that Ternent is keen to keep strengthening his squad with transfer deadline day just over a fortnight away.

"I know David from our time together at Bury and I know what he can do," explained Ternent. "He will bring us pace and the ability to hold up the ball.

"He has done it at this level before and he has played in the Premiership so he is a no risk signing for me. He will give us competition for places and obviously, with Gareth out for two games, that is important."

Johnson does not carry the physical threat of Taylor as he is only 5ft6ins tall but he does know all about helping a club reach the Premier League. He was a key man for Ipswich Town two seasons ago scoring 22 league goals and then playing his part when they beat Barnsley at Wembley in the play-off final.

The former Manchester United youngster made his name at Bury under Ternent before George Burley took him to Ipswich for £1million.

England Under-21 boss David Platt then paid three times that for the striker when he was in charge at the City Ground but it was not a move that worked out for the player or for Forest. He has scored only five goals in 38 starts although he did recently find the net twice for Sheffield Wednesday during a six game loan spell with the Owls.

Only a couple of years ago the player, who has represented Jamaica in a couple of friendlies, was being courted by a couple of the home countries.

The possibility of Paul Gascoigne also moving to Burnley remains alive with reports that the former England star is ready to leave Everton if manager Walter Smith is sacked this week.

The pressure is mounting on the under-fire Scot following the 3-0 FA Cup defeat at Middlesbrough on Sunday and Gazza has intimated that he would be ready to swap a relegation fight for a promotion battle.