FRANCIS Jeffers can rediscover the scoring touch that made him one of the hottest properties in the Premier League under the expert tutelage of Blackburn manager Mark Hughes.

That's the verdict of former Rovers favourite Craig Short, who knows Jeffers better than most following their days together at Everton in the late 1990s.

Back then, a teenage Jeffers was widely considered to be the most promising strikers of his generation after he burst onto the scene in a blaze of goals at Goodison Park.

In three seasons with the Toffees, Jeffers averaged a goal every three games, a run which eventually alerted Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who paid £8 million for his services in the summer of 2001.

Hailed by Wenger as a fox in the box', Jeffers never fulfilled his potential during three injured plagued seasons, and his career took a nose dive.

After being shown the door by Arsenal in the summer of 2004, he then spent unproductive spells at Charlton and Rangers, the latter on loan, mustering just five goals in two years.

It was somewhat surprising then when Hughes made an 11th hour move for the striker this summer.

Like Short, Hughes is also a former team-mate of Jeffers' from their days together at Everton, so he knows just what a prodigious talent he was during those early days at Goodison.

So if anyone can reignite the former England hitman's career then Short believes it's Hughes, who did a similar job for Craig Bellamy last season.

"I remember when Franny first came on the scene at Everton," recalls Short.

"There were so many players who were being touted as the next big thing at Everton.

"There was Michael Branch, and then Danny Cadamarteri, but they never really seemed to make their mark.

"Then Francis came along and I remember thinking to myself Yes, this kid's really good'.

"I know he went to Arsenal for big money fairly quickly, but he probably moved away from Everton too early, looking back.

"If he gets himself fit and still has the hunger to do well then he definitely has the ability because I really rated him at Everton.

"Watching him in training every day as a youngster, he looked like one of those players who had been around for a long time.

"He reminds me a little bit of Robbie Fowler when he was in his heyday, in terms of the way he plays.

"The one good thing is he's joined a club where the coaching is first class.

"He's also back in the North West, where I think he's probably happiest, and he's still only 25, so if anyone is going to get the best out of him then surely it's Mark Hughes, because that was the position he played in.

"There's a lot left to come from Franny."