CHRIS LAKEY Canaries hot-shot Jamie Cureton has had his odds for retaining the Golden Boot slashed by bookies. Cureton started the season well down the list of favourites, despite topping the Championship's goal-scoring charts last season with 23 goals for Colchester United.

CHRIS LAKEY

Canaries hot-shot Jamie Cureton has had his odds for retaining the Golden Boot slashed by bookies.

Cureton started the season well down the list of favourites, despite topping the Championship's goal-scoring charts last season with 23 goals for Colchester United.

But the 31-year-old has started the season as he ended the last - scoring goals, with four in just two appearances.

And the bookies have reacted quickly: having started the season at 25-1 with a number of bookies, Cureton is now down to as skinny as 10-1.

But defying the odds is clearly nothing new to City's summer recruit.

“Apparently, I was 250 odd to one last year,” he said. “They have obviously cut my odds a little bit.

“Obviously that's a bit more pressure, but as a striker you want to be up there and battling around. I have always said if you are in the top five in this division it is a massive achievement because there are international players at this level. That is my aim again, to be in amongst it.”

West Brom's Kevin Phillips is still the favourite to take the Golden Boot away from Cureton, along with Watford's Marlon King. Phillips has two in two league matches this season, while King has struck once this season in two outings.

Top scorers in the Championship are Ipswich's Alan Lee, ex-Tractor Boy James Scowcroft and Barnsley's Brian Howard who have three each - although Cureton and Lee are level at four apiece in league and Carling Cup.

Cureton admits he has private targets - but knows the pressure is on to break the 20-goal barrier for the sixth time in his career.

“I have always got targets but I never tell anyone,” he said. “After last year the thing for me was to try and keep that level of performance up. Obviously 20 goals, it is going to have to be around that sort of target, but I set myself smaller targets that I can reach quickly and keep moving on. The first one was to get my first goal, now I have got my first league goal - so, so far it is going very well.”