STAN Ternent revealed that he checked out Geoff Horsfield's credentials before Fulham swooped for the Halifax goalscorer.

But with the Clarets immediate priorities lying elsewhere, Ternent spent his transfer cash on stiffening up his defence and midfield.

"We watched Geoff Horsfield but we had Andy Payton and Andy Cooke, as well as Ronnie Jepson and Peter Swan, and we had more pressing needs.

"Steve Davis was one of them," said the Burnley boss who had identified the Luton defender as his major target and finally landed him for £750,000 in the New Year.

With Davis proving his worth in helping Burnley climb away from the foot of the table and Payton hitting 20 League goals for the season, Ternent certainly won't regret not following up his interest in Horsfield.

But he remains impressed with the player who has scored 22 League goals this season, 14 of them to help Fulham to the Second division title following his £300,000 move from Halifax. Horsfield, who scored against the Clarets in a pre-season friendly at the Shay and will be attempting to repeat the trick at Turf Moor tomorrow, has been a revelation since joining the Londoners, with even manager Kevin Keegan admitting he has exceeded all expectations.

The 25-year-old Yorkshireman, who scored 30 goals to help Halifax win the Conference title last season, has enjoyed a spectacular rise to prominence after learning his trade the hard way.

Horsfield began his career as a trainee with Scarborough before joining Unibond League clubs Guiseley and Witton Albion.

Halifax then signed him to help them stay in the Conference two seasons ago while he combined his football with a job on the building site.

Since then he's barely been off the scoresheet and his efforts were rewarded in October when Keegan handed him his first taste of the big time.

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