I HAVE a confession to make to my nearest and dearest.

The timing isn't brilliant, what with my lovely wife expecting our third child, but I simply have to bare my soul.

I've fallen for someone else. Tall and athletic, they have a unique presence and magnetism quite unlike anyone else I've seen in years.

It's been going on for three years now, ever since they moved up to Stoke from down south.

At first I thought that it would be a brief fling and they would soon move on and find someone else to adore them, but they haven't, and my feelings are growing stronger by the week.

Thanks to their tiredness and working abroad at certain times of the year, I don't get to see them as often as I'd like, but that stolen half an hour here and there, and the odd 90 minutes in their company, makes our time apart a little more bearable.

I even sneak off to other towns and cities just to spend an hour or two in their company. The person's name, if you haven't guessed already, is Mr Ricardo Fuller.

Every so often football supporters get to witness, at first hand, the very essence of what makes us love the national sport of this country.

They get to watch an individual who becomes so much more than simply a name on a teamsheet.

These heroes come in many guises.

There's your original 'brick-outhouse-local-lad-who would-die-for-the-club' sort, in the shape of a Denis Smith. Or there's a 'with-this-bloke-in-the-team-we-know-we're-gonna-score' Steino/Sheron/Thorne-type individual.

In between are any number of styles and characters that turn everyday footballers into local icons. I'm sure even Keith Scott has his fans somewhere, mainly in the opposition stands, of course!

But what really floats my boat are the individuals who get you out of your seat every single time they get the ball at their feet.

They don't come along very often at Stoke, but when they do they simply illuminate the game and make you overjoyed your old man took you by the hand and guided you down to the Vic/Brit all those years ago.

The really special ones can weave their spell in the shortest spaces of time – witness Ricardo leaving Spurs' Woodgate doing a more than passable impression of Bambi's earliest attempts to walk, in less than 15 seconds!

I've already mentioned a few strikers who have created their own niche in among the heartstrings of many a Stokie, but Fuller is simply unique.

Unique in that as a striker he has a penchant for beating players several times over, not passing, never scoring a tap-in and doing exactly what he wants to do on a football pitch. We love him for it, and he is simply priceless to us.

It's normally wingers who have performed such outlandish tricks to gain their notoriety. The likes of Chamberlain and Beagrie down the flanks would see the Boothen and Butler Street Stands join those in the Boothen End on their feet whenever they got the ball.

Fuller is different. Although slightly ungainly looking at times, he has unbelievable balance and an ability to leave even the best defenders (and West Brom's centre-halves) on their backsides.

As a centre-forward, I feel that there is no-one better in the league when faced in an isolated situation facing the centre-half. That situation is simply called "Ricardo time".

It's as if the stage has been set. You know he won't pass, and you know full well that he'll 'do' the defender. It's Ricardo's trademark and one that is lighting up the top division week after week.

His cameo last Sunday was worth the admission fee alone. Why, he even missed the penalty with a style and swagger that simply begged forgiveness from his adoring public.

How my heart sank as I traipsed up from The Plough at 3.15pm knowing our star player was on the bench. He's simply THAT important to us as a team, football club and fans – a modern-day legend in my eyes.

Even the harshest TP critic (and I've had me moans!) should at least pay due respect to some of the wheeling and dealing that he's done in the transfer market, Ricardo possibly being his coup de grace.

Put simply, the strikeforce that finished the game against Spurs last weekend cost us one 30th of David Bentley. It's enough to make you weep (with joy) isn't it?

So, in a month's time it's hopefully Bunny number three making an appearance. If it's a boy, there's only one name in it I suppose.

Ricardo Steino Smithy Sergei Jimmy Chambo Bunn. Got a ring to it, hasn't it?