Lee Bradbury has turned his back on Colchester United to play for Sheffield Wednesday.
The Portsmouth goalgetter, who is returning from cruciate ligament injury, has thrown in his lot on loan with the First Division strugglers only weeks after he told U's boss Steve Whitton that he was not fit enough to play Division Two football at Layer Road.
Bradbury's decision is the latest blow for Whitton who firmly believes his cash-strapped team would be pushing for a promotion play-off place if they had a proven goalscorer.
That's the opinion of Whitton as he and his Layer Road squad continue to battle against the odds to clinch a sixth successive season of Second Division football.
"We would be up at the top, no doubt about it, if we had a proven scorer," insisted the U's boss.
"That's the only difference between us and the top teams.
"But before we all get too carried away, those kind of players cost big money both in transfer fees and wages - thousands of pounds a week - and there's no way we at Colchester can afford that."
Whitton said: "If we had a natural scorer like Bradbury or Tranmere's Simon Haworth it would make all the difference to our play.
"Our first half performance against Tranmere on Saturday deserved to win the game, but people who score goals out of nothing, like Haworth did, are worth their weight in gold."
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Published Tuesday, January 7, 2003
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