In form teenage striker Danny Rose is delighted to be compared to ex-Reds player and manager Allan Clarke but says he has no desire to replicate the former England striker and sign for Leeds United.
Clarke is a legend at Elland Road for scoring more than 100 times for Don Revie’s all-conquering Leeds side of the 1970s.He was capped 19 times for England and earned the nickname ‘Sniffer’ for his goal-poaching ability. He later had one spell as player-manager of Barnsley and another as manager.
Rose has been compared to Clarke after poaching late goals for the Reds in the FA Cup against Burnley and on Saturday at Ipswich. Despite not knowing much about Clarke, whose last job in football was three years before he was born, the youngster is pleased with the comparison.
Rose said: “People have recognised me as Allan Clarke. I know he scored a lot of goals and that he was called Sniffer. He was a proven goalscorer so I am happy to be classed as that. I am not a target man because I am not the strongest so I just sniff round hoping for a goal here and there. It’s nice to be compared to a legend but I won’t be signing for Leeds like Clarke did.
“My hero is Alan Shearer but I’m not like him because he could head a ball well.”
Such self-deprecation is typical of Rose, who did score a headed goal, albeit it via a deflection, in the 1-1 draw at Ipswich Town. The teenager, who has been at his hometown club since he was eight years old, said at the start of the season that his target was one goal but he has doubled that and hopes for more. Rose said: “I would like to get five this season but if we avoid relegation and I am still on two goals then I will be happy with that. I am over the moon to have scored two goals. I will just keep working hard in training and look for a third goal.”
