McPhail hails top hotshot Chopra

Striker Michael Chopra is Cardiff City's club record buy at £4m

Stephen McPhail has praised Cardiff City hotshot Michael Chopra as the best striker in the Championship.

Chopra's four-goal haul in their 6-1 midweek win over Derby County fired him top of the division's top-scorers list with 12 goals in his opening 13 games.

The £4m summer signing is British football's hottest striker this term and McPhail hopes Chopra can fire Cardiff to the Premier League.

"There's no-one in this division that comes near him at the moment," he said.

Championship teams need a marksman to fire them into the top-flight as 25-goal Sylvain Ebanks-Blake helped shoot Wolverhampton Wanderers to the Premier League last season and Kevin Phillips' 22 goals inspired West Bromwich Albion into the promised land the season before.

Chopra suffered a six-game goal drought before his second four-goal haul of his career on Tuesday - but McPhail believes his old pal is a better all-round player in his second spell in South Wales.

606: DEBATE Michael Chopra would be great in a Premier League team that will play him up front and give him some service Chopra's right boot

The former Newcastle United apprentice scored 22 goals in his first season at Cardiff during 2006/07 and earned him a £5m move to Premier League side Sunderland.

But Chopra re-signed permanently for the Bluebirds in the summer after an unsuccessful spell back in the north east and three loan spells at Cardiff.

McPhail said: "He has come back a bit more hungry than he was the last time he was here, there is a bit more of an edge to him which is good, I like it.

"His goal return of 12 already is phenomenal and there is no-one near him in the country, let alone the division, and we hope he can maintain his good form."

Leicester's Matty Fryatt is trailing in Chopra's wake in the Championship with seven goals this term while Notts County's Lee Hughes with nine and Liverpool's eight-goal Fernando Torres are also among British football's top hitmen.

"I hope he can get more goals than he scored last time," said McPhail.

"To score goals is what he's here for and knows it - but he lives to score goals.

"He makes very clever runs and he's an out-and-out goal-scorer. If any team has any hopes of winning promotion, they need a striker that is on form and he is our goal-scorer."

McPhail, meanwhile, enjoyed a four-goal assist haul against Derby on Tuesday as the Republic of Ireland midfielder stepped in for the suspended Joe Ledley as he and Chopra joined forces once again.

The pair first formed a lethal combination during their Barnsley days before both signed for Cardiff in the summer of 2006.

And against Derby, they continued where they left off and McPhail admits he would be "gutted" if he was not retained in Dave Jones' team to face Watford at Vicarage Road on Saturday.

Bluebirds boss Jones concedes it has 'never bothered him changing a winning team' as he has Wales midfielder Ledley available again.

But Jones could equally reshuffle his team to accommodate both Ledley and McPhail as Cardiff go in search of their first win at Watford in almost 40 years.

"I'd be gutted if I wasn't in the team for Watford after Tuesday's performance," admitted McPhail.

"But I suppose 11 of us would be gutted to be left out after that performance but we've got a big squad, which we want, and if the manager wants to freshen it up, it's his call."