Kyle Lafferty

Born in Enniskillen on the 16th of September 1987 Kyle Lafferty is just 20 years old and it is certainly far to early to fully analyse the career of the Burnley starlet but the 6' 4 Northern Ireland man is already making a name for himself at both club and international level. Lafferty began his career at NFC Kesh in his native Northern Ireland before making the move to Burnley as a youth player in 2004 where he was an instant hit in the both the youth and reserve set ups. With both his goals and footwork impressing first team coach Steve Cotterill, Lafferty was invited to join the senior squad for the start of the 2005-06 season, scoring his first senior goal on the final day of the season in a 1-1 draw with Luton town.

Having suitably impressed at club level early on, the then Northern Ireland manager Lawrie Sanchez called Lafferty into the senior international squad where he made his debut in Northern Ireland's US tour in the summer of 2006. Solid performances from the young Burnley player saw him called into action again as Northern Ireland prepared for the Euro 2008 qualifiers with a friendly against Finland on 16th August 2006, Northern Ireland won that game 2-1 with Lafferty grabbing his first senior goal and David Healy adding the winner.

Although an obvious talent it is clear that Lafferty is still learning the game, and it was injury to Burnley's Andy Gray rather than design that handed him an extended run in the clarets first team in the 2006-07 campaign. During this spell he was to score 4 more goals including a brace against Premier league new boys, Sunderland. By this stage Lafferty had established himself as a Northern Ireland regular, and his first competitive goal came in the 3-1 demolition of Liechtenstein at Windsor park, a well-taken half volley following good work on the left from team mate George McCartney.

Lafferty's endeavours in both the claret and the green shirt have seen interest descend from clubs such as Celtic, Wolves and Fulham with bids from 500k to 2m having been offered for his services. Burnley boss Steve Cotterill rejected these offers as derisory, highlighting the valuation afforded to the young Northern Irishman by his employers. It seems one way or another Lafferty is destined to make an impact at the highest level, one thing is for sure however, there's more to come from Kyle Lafferty.

Profile written by Matthew Mateer.