Lennie Lawrence has described the recent deal which could tie Rickie Lambert to Bristol Rovers until 2011 as "the best day's work we have done here."

The Pirates know the Scouse marksman – who went into today's game at Leicester City as the country's leading marksman with 15 goals – is bound to attract attention from other clubs during the January transfer window if he continues his phenomenal strike rate.

But they hope the extended deal they agreed with Lambert earlier this season will put them in the driving seat when it comes to dealing with any approaches for a player who cost them £200,000 from Rochdale .

The management team are hopeful they will be able to hang on to the 26-year-old striker – who scored all four of their goals in last weekend's 4-2 demolition of Southend – with coach Paul Trollope acknowledging he is crucial to their plans for the future.

He said: "Rickie's goals haven't just come because of his quality but also because of a real desire – a desire to get across in front of defenders and a desire to get into the box after he's been involved in the link-up play.

"He's the focal point of most of our forward play to start with, so after he's laid the ball off he then needs to get into the box to finish it off, which is what he's doing now.

"We are confident of creating chances for him and he is confident of putting them away.

"He is on fire at the moment, but it's not a foregone conclusion that this run he's on will continue.

"He has to continue working hard to get in those goalscoring positions. We have to keep working hard to help him."

Director of football Lawrence said: "I think Rickie is probably the best player in our league at the moment – and I don't just mean strikers.

"He is not just a goalscorer – he is a good footballer who scores goals, and there is a difference between the two."

Lambert acknowledges he has ambitions to play in the Championship one day – and hopes he can help Rovers get there.

He said: "My long-term is goal is to get to the Championship and play my football there. If that's with Bristol Rovers in the next couple of years it will be the best thing that can happen.

"I'm settled at the club now and Bristol feels like my second home. I think the fact I knew where I was going to be for the next couple of years might have helped me with the run I'm having now."

Lambert has scored in all seven of Rovers away games in League One so far and will be hoping to continue that remarkable run against the Foxes today as the Pirates make their first visit to the Walkers Stadium, where they will be roared on by more than 2,500 travelling fans. They are expected to name an unchanged line-up.

Meanwhile, Rovers are again running the rule over midfielder Richard Langley as the Jamaican international looks to resurrect his career.

The 28-year-old has been with the Pirates for training this week and impressed in a midweek reserve team friendly at Exeter City, which the visitors won 4-3.

Rovers have already taken the former QPR, Cardiff City and Luton player on trial once this season – but their attempts to assess him were thwarted when he suffered a hamstring injury midway through the first half of a reserve team friendly against Cardiff in late August.

But Trollope insisted Rovers would take another look, saying: "He has proven quality, he's played a lot of international games and he needs a chance somewhere."

If Rovers do decide to pursue their interest in a player who has made 14 appearances for the Caribbean island, they could do so before the January transfer window as Langley is currently without a club, having been released by Luton last season.

The Londoner managed to play only the final game of the last campaign for the Hatters, having been sidelined by a cruciate ligament injury he picked up in pre-season.

Lawrence paid £200,000 to take Langley to Cardiff City from QPR in 2003 while in charge at Ninian Park. The Londoner spent two seasons with the Welsh club before returning to Loftus Road, where he had first come up through the youth ranks.

Bristol Rovers (probable 4-1-3-2): Phillips; Pipe, Hinton, Anthony, Lescott; Campbell; Disley, Lines, Hughes; Lambert, Kuffour. Subs: Duffy, Hunt, Jacobson, R Green, M Green.