BURNLEY are believed to have turned down a £200,000 bid for Kurt Nogan from red rose rivals Preston North End, writes TONY DEWHURST.

The Turf Moor board of directors met last night to discuss the offer but have told the Deepdale club to increase their bid or forget it.

However, I understand Preston - who are also chasing Liverpool striker Lee Jones - are now set to turn their sights elsewhere.

Manager Adrian Heath confirmed: "We've had an enquiry from Preston but they are not offering enough and Kurt stays here.

"We felt that the Preston offer was some way short of Kurt's current market price."

But the decision to turn down the Preston bid could prove a dangerous gamble for the Clarets.

This is the first hard offer for Nogan since he was placed on the transfer list in December and would have proved an ideal opportunity for Burnley to sell on a player who clearly does not want to commit his long-term future to Turf Moor.

It also would have given the Clarets money to play the transfer market and handed Nogan a fresh start.

The same scenario arose last season when Norwich City and Middlesbrough turned down big money offers for Robert Ullathorne and Jamie Pollock - and they lost out when the pair moved to the continent for free under the Bosman ruling.

Off-the-field problems culminated in Nogan refusing to be one of Burnley's three substitutes at Wrexham 10 days ago and he was subsequently axed from the Burnley squad against Peterborough at the weekend.

It is just over two years since Nogan, 26, joined the Clarets from Brighton and Hove Albion in a then record £250,000 deal.

Nogan was the Clarets' leading scorer last season with 27 league and cup goals, but after a free-scoring start to this season, he has not found the net since December.

He scored 42 league and cup goals for the Clarets in over 90 appearances for Burnley.

Burnley fielded Manchester United trialist Colin Murdock in last night's Pontins League Cup victory at Doncaster Rovers.

Heath added: "Colin is with us for a couple of games and he performed very well last night," added Heath.

Peter Swan also made a full return following his recent hamstring problems and is back in contention for this weekend's trip to Brentford. See match report on page 31.

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