SAM PARKIN is anxious not to lumber himself with 'a curse' yet admits the League One golden boot would fit nicely on his mantlepiece.

The 23-year-old striker, pictured, has finished third in the race to be the division's top scorer for the last two seasons and there is no questioning his desire to make it third time lucky.

His 19 goals in all competitions currently sees him trail Hull's Stuart Elliott and Bristol City's Leroy Lita by four goals.

Parkin said: "I don't want to put a curse on things by talking about it too much but having been up there for the last two seasons, coming out on top this time would be the icing on the cake.

"There's still 11 games or so to go for most of us so I'm sure that all the strikers involved will be hoping to get a few more before the end of the season, myself included."

Parkin may have been overlooked by bigger clubs this season but it seems not everyone out there is quite so ignorant of his qualities.

The April issue of football's Four Four Two magazine hits the shelves tomorrow and none other than Super Sammy himself features on the front cover alongside Wigan's Nathan Ellington, Swansea's Lee Trundle and Wolves' Paul Ince among others.

There is a feature within focusing on the best 50 players in the Football League and Town's number nine is number 25 on that list.

Opinions were canvassed from numerous figures within football and the list drawn up.

In the article Parkin is quoted as saying: "The next stage for me is the Championship, where I'm more than capable of playing. Ideally it will be with Swindon."

Number one on the list is Reading's Steve Sidwell, a player Parkin joined up with at Reading's Madejski Stadium for the recent photo shoot for the feature.

Parkin said: "We obviously don't attract too much attention as a club from the media outside the area so it was nice to do something like this and get some national exposure.

"I enjoyed it and it's obviously flattering to feature on a list which includes some quality players."

Finishing rather than photo shoots are the priority for Parkin at this stage though and he is already looking forward to Saturday's clash with Bournemouth at the County Ground.

Manager Andy King spoke about belief after the draw at Doncaster and Parkin confirms that belief is flowing through the squad, belief tempered with caution.

He said: "We know we are in with a chance but the daftest thing to do at this stage would be to get carried away about things.

"The old clich about one game at a time is really appropriate here.

"You have to focus on your next challenge which is Bournemouth."

Loanee Lee Holmes also gets a mention in the Four Four Two article, although it is Derby colleagues Tom Huddlestone and Lee Camp who gain 'chart' positions at numbers 28 and 29 respectively.