BURNLEY last night rejected Sheffield United's second audacious attempt to land star striker Ade Akinbiyi.

As the saga rumbles on into a second week, Bramall Lane bosses are understood to have "tweaked" their initial £1m-plus bid to try to guarantee more of the cash as an up-front payment.

However, with no extra money on the table than the offer rejected out of hand last week, Clarets chairman Barry Kilby has again swiftly rebuffed the Blades approach.

Kilby insisted: "There was a tweak to the offer Sheffield United previously made, which we have discounted as it still not worth contemplating."

As I understand it, United's initial bid was in the region of £1.25million, with a further £250,000 should they earn promotion to the Premiership - something that looks increasingly likely given the massive 12-point-gap they have over third-placed Yorkshire rivals Leeds United.

That combined fee would equal the club record set when Burnley sold England U21 midfielder Richard Chaplow to West Bromwich Albion for £1.5m on transfer deadline day last year.

Twelve months on, the fact that United have returned with a second 'offer' is further proof that Akinbiyi remains Neil Warnock's number one striking target as he looks to strengthen the squad for a final push towards the Premiership.

Restructuring the new bid is likely to have involved a bigger percentage of the final £250,000m being included in the up-front payment.

However as the main striker at Turf Moor, with 14 goals to his name already this season, Akinbiyi's importance to Burnley remains greater than United's current valuation.

And with the transfer window closing in under a fortnight, it now remains to be seen whether the growing pressure on Warnock to land a striker forces a third, improved offer.

Ironically, Burnley are busy planning for Saturday's Lancashire derby against Preston North End without Akinbiyi, who serves an untimely one-match ban after earning a fifth booking of the season last weekend.

However, team mate Jon Harley believes Burnley are determined to put all the transfer rumblings behind them as they go in search of their first league win of 2006 and a first victory in six games.

The former Chelsea and Fulham defender insisted: "We're still not a million miles off the play-offs and we know we're more than capable of doing it, so that's our aim.

"We know it's going to be tough because of the (unbeaten) run Preston are on and because it's a local derby there is a lot more riding on it.

"It's going to be a big game and we're all more than up for it."