NEW recruit Lee Bradbury is confident he can come up trumps for Cherries after being drafted in to answer Kevin Bond's striker SOS.

The vastly-experienced 32-year-old has joined Cherries on loan from Southend and will stay at Dean Court initially until the end of December.

Bradbury trained with Bond's squad for the first time on Friday and is in line to make his debut in the League One showdown at Doncaster.

The Isle of Wight-born hitman has been brought in to help bolster the club's striking resources, with Cherries still searching for their first goal of the season.

Bradbury, who grabbed a hat-trick in Southend's Carling Cup win over Cheltenham this month, told the Echo: "I've been looking out for Bourne-mouth's results and seen that they haven't scored yet.

"It doesn't faze me, to be honest. I just want to go out and play to the best of my ability because I think I can score goals at this level.

"I want to score as many goals as I can to help get us up the table. With the players and coaching staff we've got, we've certainly got the potential to get among the play-off positions.

"Although I've only trained once with the lads, I can see we've got some decent players here and hopefully we can start by getting a good result at Doncaster."

Bradbury, who started out at Portsmouth after crossing the Solent from Wessex League Cowes Sports in 1995, has been the subject of almost £5m in transfer fees during his career.

He joined Manchester City for £3m in 1997 and moved to Crystal Palace for £1.5m a year later before returning to Fratton Park in a £380,000 deal in 1999.

Capped three times by England at under-21 level, he joined Southend from Oxford in January 2006 and played his part in the Shrimpers' League One promotion.

But despite making 31 appearances in the Championship last season, Bradbury was keen to move closer to his Fareham home after finding the commuting a chore.

He added: "The (Southend) manager was very understanding. I asked him if he would let me go if I found somewhere closer to home and he kindly agreed, even though he wanted me to stay.

"This is a fresh start for me and a good chance to play on my doorstep. Depending on how it goes from both sides, I would like to stay for longer but I know I'll have to score some goals to earn myself a contract."

Cherries boss Bond said: "Lee is a really good pro and has played for some top clubs during his career. I'm really pleased to have him on board.

"We lack a bit of experience in our frontline and Jo Kuffour seems to be at his best when he's got a strong type of player alongside him and I'm hoping all our strikers will benefit from his arrival."

Bond was also quick to thank Cherries' owners Jeff Mostyn and Steve Sly for financing Bradbury's signing: "It's a great credit to Jeff and Steve that they have put their hands in their pockets because they could see we needed strengthening.

"But just because you need certain things, the funds aren't always readily available and sometimes you have to grin and bear it and get on with it.

"They gave me permission to take Lee and it was both a pleasant surprise and a fantastic gesture when we are already in a difficult position."