Coyle landed Paterson in the summer for a fee that will ultimately be in excess of £1m., and the 21-year-old has so far responded with five goals in six games.

However, the arrival of the 6ft 2ins Thompson means Coyle now has the archetypal big man-little man strikeforce at his disposal, and feels the former Rangers man will not only take some of the weight off Paterson's shoulders, but help enhance his growing reputation.

While at Cardiff, Thompson partnered Michael Chopra for a season, and the pair netted 28 goals between them.

Chopra hit 22 of those, and, 12 months after a £500,000 move from Newcastle, he was on his way back to the north east with Sunderland for £5m.

And Coyle explained what he feels Thompson will bring to the club: "The thing I love about him is he has a terrific work ethic, you know when he wears that jersey, he'll give everything he's got.

"He wears his heart on his sleeve, and he's a terrific lad and is one of those players that teammates appreciate, because you know what he's doing for you.

"You ask Michael Chopra, for example, he probably benefited more than anybody at Cardiff, so much so they eventually sold him for £5m.

"He benefited from Steven's workload in terms of goals, and I would hope Martin Paterson will also benefit enormously.

"All of a sudden, you could turn a £1m. player into a £3m. player."

A targetman, the likes of which Burnley have lacked since the departure of Andy Gray, and before that, Gareth Taylor, also means the Clarets should be able to play higher up the pitch, as Coyle said: "Steven will give us a different dimension.

"We've now got different types of attacking options, and that was important, so that if your gameplan of passing and movement wasn't quite coming to fruition, which happened on Saturday against Plymouth, it's nice then to have different options so you can put a different type of ball forward and see how teams defend that.

"He gives us another string to our bow, and after three consecutive shutouts, we can look to add some goals to that, and make sure we're still keeping it very tight at the back.

"That will give us the platform to go and get among the goals."
Big, strapping centre forwards are hard to find in the modern game, and they often come at a high premium.

Coyle was linked with Leicester's £1m man Steve Howard and Alan Lee, who left Ipswich for Crystal Palace for £600,000, but Coyle, in Thompson, landed an international striker with Champions League experience on a free, and he added: "We've looked everywhere for his type, and it helps that I know him aswell.

"They're not easy to come by, and, speaking to him, he feels he has a point to prove because he did ever so well at Cardiff, and I think he will want to show he is still good enough to play in that team.

"He started the season and scored, but found himself on the bench.
"Those are the type of players we want, with a point to prove, that aren't just happy to come and make up the numbers, but have an edge.
"He's played on the big stage, and you don't play for Rangers without being capable.

"He played in the FA Cup Final with Cardiff as well, and we feel he certainly has goals in him, and equally he can bring goals to the rest of the team and give us a different dimension to our play when needed.
"He's a powerful lad, a strong runner in possession of the ball, and he's played 16 times for his country.

"He's only 29, so he's coming to the peak of his powers and hopefully we'll reap the benefit."

By a bizarre quirk, just as Paterson was Ade Akinbiyi's boot boy at Stoke, Thompson used to clean Coyle's boots at Dundee United, and Coyle remembered: "Football is such a small world, and there will always be those little ironies here and there.

"I came back from Bolton and he was at Dundee United, 16 or 17, a big, raw lad, and there's no doubt he has turned out to be a fantastic player.

"I've known him since then obviously, and I'm delighted to have him on board.

"The attractive thing was that we didn't have to pay a fee in the end, but even in the latter stages on Monday, Cardiff were still adamant they were looking for a quarter of a million for him, or certainly thereabouts, but the way it transpired, we were able to get him for nothing.

"We were looking to get someone in that area to help us, and we felt he filled the criteria we were looking for.

"It was important we got the best player in that we could, under the circumstances, and I've no doubts he will do a good job for us."