Clarets sign Ricketts

Burnley have signed Leeds striker Michael Ricketts on loan until the end of the season.

The former England international has fallen well down the pecking order at Elland Road and has already been on loan at Cardiff this season.

He scored five goals in 17 games for the Welsh outfit before returning to Leeds at the turn of the year, but failed to get back into boss Kevin Blackwell’s plans.

The Clarets have been in the hunt for a striker since selling Ade Akinbiyi to Sheffield United for £1.75m (€2.6m) last week.

Ricketts, 27, started his career at Walsall before joining Bolton in 2000. He won his solitary England cap against Holland in 2002, and moved to Middlesbrough for £3.5m (€5.1m) a year later.

However, he struggled to recreate his Wanderers form at the Riverside and joined Leeds on a free transfer in the summer of 2004, and had a spell on loan at Stoke after failing to impress in his first campaign at Elland Road.