BURNLEY are locked in a race with Lancashire rivals Preston North End to land Exeter City's £300,000 rated defender Jon Richardson.

And Turf Moor chief Adrian Heath has had preliminary talks with the third division club as he bids to capture the promising 21-year-old centre-back.

The Evening Telegraph can reveal that Heath has offered a player-cash exchange package to Exeter manager Peter Fox - and he is considering the deal.

But the Clarets face fierce competition from Preston and Rotherham United. The Millmoor club have already made a £100,000 offer for Richardson, but that was turned down flat by Exeter.

The Burnley manager revealed: "He is a young right-sided defender with bags of pace. He is a very adaptable player and has a good presence in the air.

"I've set up a player-cash deal to try and tempt the club into selling," added Heath.

"He is a talent I rate very highly and he is just the sort of player I want at Turf Moor."

Heath added: "I've a number of irons in the fire and I hope to be in a position to be able to bring at least one player to the club in the next week."

Meanwhile, it has emerged that Burnley are chasing Stoke City's experienced skipper Nigel Gleghorn.

The attacking midfielder confirmed: "I've spoken to a number of clubs from the First Division down and I expect to have talks with Burnley later this week."

Gleghorn, an ever-present in Lou Macari's team for the past two seasons, played a major role in Stoke City's First Division play-off campaign.

But the 33-year-old wants a move away from the Victoria Ground - and Turf Moor could be his next port of call.

The attacking midfielder began his career at Ipswich before successful spells at Manchester City and Birmingham. He joined Stoke in 1992 for a bargain £100,000 and has made over 100 league appearances for the Potters.

Gleghorn, whose is now out-of-contract at Stoke, recently turned down the opportunity to take up a player-coach role with struggling Rochdale.

Former Clarets striker John Gayle is expected to join Second Division rivals Gillingham later this week.

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