CHRIS LAKEY Canaries striker Chris Brown has hit back at claims he deliberately uses his elbows against opposition defenders.Brown was booked after an incident with Barnet defender Sagi Burton in the midweek Carling Cup win at Carrow Road, and then substituted with less than an hour gone after an identical collision with Ian Hendon.

CHRIS LAKEY

Canaries striker Chris Brown has hit back at claims he deliberately uses his elbows against opposition defenders.

Brown was booked after an incident with Barnet defender Sagi Burton in the midweek Carling Cup win at Carrow Road, and then substituted with less than an hour gone after an identical collision with Ian Hendon.

Both players were furious with Brown after needing treatment to bloody wounds to their cheekbones after being caught by the player's flailing arm, while Barnet manager Paul Fairclough questioned whether the striker had acted deliberately.

But Brown yesterday insisted he was innocent of all charges.

“It wasn't intentional or anything like that,” he said. “It was just one of those things. I would never go out to hurt anybody intentionally.”

Brown also claimed that referee Darren Deadman changed his mind over producing a yellow card when he saw blood on Burton's face.

He said: “As soon as he saw blood on his face he said it was a yellow card - but when he first came over he said, 'no, no, he's jumped for the ball, there's nothing in it'.

“Just because there was blood on his face he had to book me for some reason, but you can see I didn't take my eye off the ball. It was one of those things.

“I think it's because of my height because when I do jump, nine times out of 10 the defender is smaller than me and it just seems to catch them, but I would never go out to intentionally hurt someone.”

Brown himself has been in the wars over the summer, sustaining a broken nose during the pre-season friendly against Vitesse Arnhem - and after having it reset, sustaining another minor break at Preston.

“After Vitesse I went into hospital on the Tuesday to get it reset then someone kicked me in the face at Preston and it moved it a little bit,” said Brown. “I think it's going to be permanently broken now.

“I think I stick my head in the wrong place - I think nobody can miss my nose it's that big, but it's getting a bit embarrassing.”

Brown has had an impressive pre-season and, controversies aside, was heavily involved against Barnet on Tuesday.

The one thing missing is a first senior goal for City - and Brown knows tomorrow's visit by Southampton would be the ideal time to set the ball rolling.

“It would be brilliant,” he said. “It is something I am really looking forward to doing soon and we can get off to a good season.

“It's nice to get them out of the way so it would be nice for one to go in. t is something I am trying to do, but I have got to make sure I am doing my job in terms of the team - closing down, holding the ball up - and if I can get a goal that will be brilliant because the gaffer is on to me to get into better positions and stuff and do less work outside the box. It is something I need to learn because from a young age that is what I have always done and it is something I need to improve on.”

Manager Peter Grant is likely to choose between Brown and David Strihavka as partner for Jamie Cureton.

“Curo is a good player,” said Brown. “He will work as hard as possible for the team and anything that goes in the box he is always there, as he showed the other night with two goals inside the 18-yard box.

“As long as we work hard as a pair - whoever is up there it doesn't matter whether it's me and Curo or anybody else - as long as we make it as difficult as we can for the opposition, do our jobs, that is what the gaffer is after.”