ASHLEY'S AMAZING UPWARD TRAJECTORY

Since he left Plymouth Argyle in the summer of 2010, Ashley Barnes’ career has been on an amazing upward trajectory.

Currently playing with Burnley in the Premiership is a far cry from his more humble beginnings with Southern League side Paulton Rovers, who he left to join the Pilgrims in 2007 when he was snapped up by Ian Holloway.

Initially, he found first team football at Home Park hard to come by as Barry Hayles and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake were firmly established Holloway’s first choice strike partnership.

He found himself loaned out to Oxford United, Salisbury City and Eastbourne Borough before he eventually broke into the first team at Home Park under Paul Sturrock - as he scored his first goal for the Pilgrims towards the end of the 2008-09 season in a 4-0 win over Coventry City.

However, a change in management that saw Sturrock replaced by Paul Mariner saw Barnes loaned out again, this time to Torquay United – where he failed to find the target in six matches - before he joined Brighton and Hove Albion on loan towards the end of the 2009-10 season, before making the move permanent.

It was at that point when Barnes joined Brighton from the Pilgrims for undisclosed fee, following a successful loan spell towards the end of the 2009-10 season.

His move to the South Coast proved to be a big success for Barnes, as he helped the Seagulls to win the League One title in first campaign with Brighton - the 2010-11 season. He also finished the campaign as the Seagulls’ second top scorer with 20 goals in 49 appearances.

In January 2014, Barnes was snapped up for Burnley by Sean Dyche and at the end of the season the Clarets won promotion to the Premiership.

Since then, Barnes has taken the leap to the top-flight in his stride, and helped Dyche’s men secure their first Premiership victory of the season when he scored the only goal of the game in their 1-0 win over Hull City on November 8^th 2014.

Also, during his three years with the Pilgrims, Barnes was capped by Austria, who he qualifies for through his grandmother, at Under-20 level. If he can continue his current vein of goal scoring form for the Clarets, a senior call-up might not be out of the question in the future.