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One To Watch – Martin Paterson

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Vital QPR revisits the one to watch from the R`s previous encounter with the Clarets as we once again look at the career of Martin Paterson.

The Tunstall born forward made his debut for Stoke City late on in the 2004/05 season in the Potters 2-0 victory over Plymouth Argyle. Paterson replaced fellow forward Chris Greenacre in the 87th minute, with Dexter Blackstock and Akos Buzsaky on the losing side.

After limited opportunity at the Britannia Stadium he only managed to notch a solitary goal in a 1-1 draw with Sheffield Wednesday. Following that he was shipped out on loan to Grimsby Town where he made an immediate impact scoring four goals in his first three games.

A baron spell saw him bag only two further goals that campaign, but nevertheless he displayed his goalscoring prowess in a successful loan spell. He returned to Stoke City for three further games that campaign, and they proved to be his last in the Potteries.

Paterson remained in the Championship, joining newly promoted Scunthorpe United on a free transfer chiefly as a replacement for outgoing striker Billy Sharp. Sharp had impressed significantly for the Iron and his were big boots to fill.

In an impressive spell at Glanford Park he scored 14 goals in his first full season of first team football. A goal against Queens Park Rangers at home earned the Iron a valuable home point after Akos Buzsaky`s stunning brace.

A successful season with Scunthorpe United prompted Northern Ireland boss Nigel Worthington to call him up to the Northern Ireland squad playing in narrow defeats against Spain and Bulgaria, while being called up for the squad to face Denmark.

Norwich City came in for the 5″9 forward in January with a bid of £850,000 – which was turned down by Nigel Adkins and Scunthorpe. At the end of the season the bids continued as Burnley put in a £400,000 bid which was promptly rejected. This was increased to £550,000, and subsequently rejected once more.

Scunthorpe United were rejecting everything in sight and turned down Paterson`s written transfer request. However in late June the club saw sense to accept a £1,000,000 bid from Burnley for the highly-rated forward`s services.

The fee may rise by another £300,000 depending on appearances, with the Iron placing a 20% sell on fee on the striker.

The striker has got off to a good start in his career with the Clarets, he scored three goals in his first two games which included two in the Carling Cup against Bury, which was followed by a brace against Oldham Athletic in the following round.

Back to back braces against Barnsley and Derby County were followed up with further strikes away from home against Sheffield United, Bristol City and Doncaster Rovers.

Paterson is a live-wire forward who has found himself as a Championship striker after years in the wilderness at Stoke City. His goalscoring ability has made him one of the foremost attacking players in the Championship, despite not always being at the forefront of Owen Coyle`s thoughts in first team selection.

View From The Stands

turfmanphil: “Runs his socks off, really impressed with his workrate and goal scoring prowess.

“Think he’s better when he has a taller strike partner like Thompson up with him but Coyle tends to prefer 4-1-4-1 with Blake playing behind him.

“If he has a fault it’s being over-keen which often gets him in an offside position but I would have him over Andy Gray any day.”

Cardiff_Claret: “He will score a brace against QPR !!!”

Many Thanks to Vital Burnley for their support.



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