Worthington won't let Ashton leave on the cheap

Norwich manager Nigel Worthington is bracing himself for a flurry of bids for striker Dean Ashton when the transfer window opens – but insists only a huge offer will prise the striker away from Carrow Road.

Worthington said: “I’ll say it again and again – unless there is a very substantial offer on the table he won’t be going anywhere.”

Ashton issued another reminder to any would-be investors by ending a 10-game scoring drought by hitting a stunning hat-trick in Norwich’s 3-1 victory over Southampton last weekend.

But Worthington added: “He is a Norwich player and that’s what he needs to concentrate on and focus on.

“You can never stop speculation, but there’s no point worrying about it yet because nothing can happen until January.”

Any would-be purchaser would be impressed by the effect Ashton’s hat-trick had on his position in the Actim Championship Index, the official ratings system for the Coca-Cola Championship.

According to the Actim Stats, used to generate the Actim Index, the England Under-21 international’s performance earned him his season’s best 0.71 match score which saw him climb 97 places to 114th.

His rating has only been bettered this season by David Connolly, who rated 0.73 when he scored a hat-trick for Leicester in a 4-2 win against Stoke early in August, before his move to Wigan.

Could Ashton follow Connolly into the top flight?

The player himself has attempted to play down the hype regarding his Carrow Road future, saying: “That’s up to the club. All I can do is concentrate on my football and enjoy my football.

“If things come around you deal with them. I can only concentrate on playing for Norwich City, I can’t think about the future. I am ambitious but we will see what happens.”

Norwich travel for a tough game against second-placed Sheffield United on Boxing Day hoping Ashton can build on his nine-goal tally in the league.

His hopes of climbing into the top 10 of the Actim Index are remote however. Burnley striker Ade Akinbiyi tops the rankings on 4.82 just ahead of reading’s Glen Little who is at 4.59.

Little is one of seven Reading players in the Index top 10.

The weekly Actim Index ratings are produced by giving each player a score according to how effective their performances are, rather than a tally of goals, assists or saves.

Former professionals report on the action live from the grounds to produce Actim Stats and the final Actim Index rating is reached after applying a mathematical formula.

Goals, shots on target, corners, fouls, offside, passes, tackles, blocks and clearances are all taken into consideration as well as negative actions such as cautions, shots off target and fouls to calculate a match score.

For more information on Actim visit www.pa-sport.com/actim.