New boy won't turn into goal poacher

IF Burnley want a player to knock away tap-ins, Robbie Blake is definitely not the man.

But if they are after a striker who is confident enough to shoot - and score - from anywhere then look no further.

A quick poll around Valley Parade for the goals of the season and Blake would mop up the first five places. Had his thunderbolt effort at Preston in November been in the Premiership, it would have been repeated

on Sky every other day.

He scored in similarly spectacular style from way out at Norwich and got another belter against Crewe.

I recently asked Blake when he would nudge in a rebound from a yard or two.

"Wouldn't know how to," he laughed. "I never seem to get close enough!"

Blake hardly featured until October but is still Bradford City's top scorer with 12. He seized the chance offered by Benito Carbone's loan to Derby and rattled in eight in 11 games - devastating form in a team that was fast slipping down the First Division.

Blake on his day is a mesmerising opponent for defences. Few players at this level can compete with his dribbling skills and he compensates for any lack of pace with his ability to turn markers inside out.

It didn't work out in the Premiership although the same could be said about Bradford City as a team.

He began last season on loan at Nottingham Forest with one foot seemingly out the door but battled back from the brink to force a place in a side that would often go through entire games without a serious

chance let alone a goal.

It must have been dispiriting stuff to be stuck upfront while the ball took up permanent residence at the other end and Blake scored only four times, two from the penalty spot.

But his form has come back with a bang and he looks as sharp now as his last full season in Division One when he finished with 16, the best tally of his career.

Blake's prowess in that 1998-1999 campaign fired Bradford to promotion.

Could that be an omen?