BURNLEY are ready to smash the Turf Moor transfer record for Birmingham City hot-shot Paul Barnes.

St Andrews manager Trevor Francis rejected a £300,000 bid for the 28-year-old at the weekend.

But I can reveal today that the Clarets are poised to increase their bid to land a new striking partner for leading scorer Kurt Nogan.

That would smash the club record set when Jimmy Mullen paid Brighton £300,000 for Burnley's number nine in February 1995.

Clarets manager Adrian Heath confirmed: "We've made an offer of around £300,000 for Paul Barnes. We may go back with an increased bid to bring him to Burnley.

"Although Birmingham have rejected our initial approach the deal is still very much alive.

"Trevor Francis does not want to let him go but he understands Paul's position and that his first team opportunities are a bit limited. "He is a player with a tremendous goal-scoring record and is a striker we have tracked for a while. Paul Barnes has scored goals at every club he has played for."

Heath revealed he has made a further bid for a First Division striker and added: "We've another offer on the table at another club and we are awaiting developments."

The Turf Moor chief hopes to have a new forward in the ranks for Saturday's trip to Gillingham. But Barnes appears to be Burnley's number one target.

Currently out of the first team picture at St Andrews, Barnes is well known to Heath and assistant manager John Ward.

The Clarets number two spotted his potential at Stoke City and persuaded Lou Macari to off-load the striker to York for a bargain £50,000 in July 1992.

A former team-mate of Heath's at the Victoria Ground, Barnes developed into one of the most feared strikers in the lower divisions under Ward, smashing 76 goals in 148 league appearances. Not surprisingly, his goal-scoring power attracted the attention of Barry Fry who paid York £350,000 in part-exchange for Gary Bull last March.

However, the arrival of Mike Newell and Paul Furlong has limited Barnes' opportunities and he has not made a start this season.

Bolton Wanderers striker Fabian De Freitas - who rejected a move to Turf moor on the grounds that he wanted a move to the continent - has joined Spanish club Osasuna for £300,000.

Defensive rock Gerry Harrison could be out of Division Two action for a fortnight.

Harrison was stretchered off during Burnley's narrow 2-1 defeat at Millwall.

And the defender was under intensive treatment today after damaging his knee early in the second half.

Harrison is already ruled out of tomorrow's Coca-Cola Cup first round, second leg clash against Mansfield Town at Turf Moor.

"It is not good news but not as bad as we first thought," confirmed Burnley boss Adrian Heath.

"It appears he has strained his knee. We thought he had damaged his ligaments at first. He is likely to be sidelined for at least the next week or so."

Losing Harrison for any length of time would be a big blow for Burnley. The utility player has been an ever-present in the side since the Clarets pre-season tour to Northern Ireland.

Harrison has showed his value to the squad and can adapt to either a midfield or a defensive role.

Heath, meanwhile, praised the efforts of his Burnley side - and leading scorer Kurt Nogan.

The Wales international bagged his fourth goal of the campaign - his third in the league - as Burnley suffered a narrow defeat at the New Den.

Heath added: "Kurt Nogan proved against Millwall just what a good player he is.

"He is getting better all the time. He scored another good goal and he was a little bit unfortunate on a couple of occasions when the goalkeeper made a good save.

"He may have taken the wrong option a couple of times but I was delighted with his contribution.

"He's a very good striker. If he continues to score like that he won't be on standby for Wales. He will be getting into the squad on merit.

"There is no doubt that he's got the ability to play at the highest level if he continues to work hard."

Burnley announced a new sponsorship deal today, believed to be worth over £100,000, with local company Sanderson Ford.

The local car distributors have agreed to extend the sponsorship of the Bob Lord Stand for a further two years.

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