FOUR lower-league gems who can light up next year's Premier League

With one place in the Championship race for promotion virtually settled, we now know that some of the brightest talents of the Football League will be gracing the top flight in the navy blue and white of West Brom. The new talents in the form of Ishmael Miller and Chris Brunt, alongside well-known Premier League players like Kevin Phillips and Zoltan Gera, have shown the football world that exciting, creative play is not solely reserved for the glamour of the Premier League.

But who else should we be looking out for in the lower leagues who could be a storming success in the highest level of English football?

Michael Kightly: Kightly’s astronomic rise from non-league to Wolves has been the stuff of most boys' dreams. Plying his trade with Conference side Gray’s Athletic, he was plucked from obscurity by the Midlands outfit who paid a nominal fee for the flying winger on New Year’s Day, 2007. His impact was immediate, finishing runner-up for the fans’ player of the year, despite only joining on loan in November. Scoring six goals in his first season, he was linked with Old Trafford and selected for England Under-21s over the following summer. Despite a niggling injury that has hampered his season, Kightly has still managed to score five goals and provide a strong creative outlet for the rest of the team. A great prospect at 22 and almost assured of a future place in the Premier League.

Joe Garner: Having been allowed to leave by Blackburn Rovers, the club where he learned his trade as an apprentice, the 19-year-old striker left for Carlisle United on loan in January 2007 and has never looked back. Having netted five times in his first half-season, Carlisle splashed out £140,000 on the hot prospect, who repaid their faith with 14 goals in a season cut short by an injury in February. A naturally gifted goalscorer with a knack of scoring at crucial times, including a winner against Leeds United, Garner’s potential could see him rise rapidly through the leagues.