NEW BOY Billy Clarke has vowed to score the goals crocked club-mate Jordan Rhodes can't - and earn himself a permanent deal at Brentford, writes Jacob Murtagh.
Ipswich Town striker Clarke joined the Bees until the end of the season last week after fellow Tractor Boy Rhodes was ruled out for the rest of the campaign with a broken fifth metatarsal.
Rhodes bagged seven goals during his stint at Griffin Park before getting injured in last week's home defeat to Chesterfield.
And Clarke, who has been told he is free to leave Portman Road this summer, is confident he can fire Brentford to League Two glory.
He said: "I've been on-loan at Darlington and Northampton this season and scored quite a few goals. I have confidence in my own ability, and think I can score some goals to help get us promoted.
"My contract's up at Ipswich this summer, but I'm not getting offered anything there. Hopefully I can get myself sorted some-where between now and the end of the season.
"Coming to Brentford permanently would be something I have to think about very seriously."
The Republic of Ireland U21 international is no stranger to a promotion battle.
He was on loan at Colchester United when they pipped Brentford to the second League One promotion spot in 2006, and played in the side's 1-1 draw at Layer Road.
He also played in Ipswich's pre-season victory at Griffin Park last summer.
And the 21-year-old, who also had a spell at Falkirk, insists he can handle the pressure.
"I was on loan at Colchester a few years ago when they were second," he said.
"It's never a bad thing when you're at a team that's doing well. This is a good move for me.
"The minute it came up I was definitely interested in coming. I spoke to Dean (Bowditch) and Jordan, and they only had positive things to say about the club."
Clarke scored a hat-trick for Northampton on the same day that Rhodes did for Brentford against Shrewsbury, and bagged an impressive eight in 20 games for Darlington.
