Although his goal scoring streak may shock stateside fans who view him as merely a defensive-minded midfielder, Heerenveen youngster Michael Bradley is taking his recent success in front of net in stride.

The US international has struck five times in the last four games after needing over 20 Eredivisie appearances to tally his first league goal, but says the statistical oddity is just one of those things.

Bradley grabbed only one goal during his season in MLS and waited a good while to open his Dutch account, yet chalks his sudden success to the vagaries of the game. Sure enough, his markers have come in all varieties: rebound follow-ups, close range finishes and a long distance shot.

Nevertheless, he'd have to go a long way back to recall any similar scoresheet hot streaks.

"Obviously, it didn't happen with the MetroStars," Bradley told American Soccer Daily. "At a time, I had some with youth National Teams. It depends on how the team is playing, which dictates my role and how much I can get forward."

The goals have come in handy with Eredivisie top gun Afonso Alves yet to make his season bow and several new faces in Frisian line-up.

Bradley says coach Gertjan Verbeek hasn't given him specific instructions to put more focus on offense, but made it clear during preseason prep that he expected two-way performances with the American sliding into the starting eleven after a year-and-a-half as back-up.

"I am supposed to provide balance with Heerenveen," he explained. "Before the season, (Verbeek) asked me to be a guy who gets up and down the field."

"He wants me to make a big impact on the game, at both ends of the field. We talked about it before the season, and he felt I was going to get a lot of goals and assists, while also working hard at the defensive end."

Bradley will try to stretch his goal streak at Feyenoord on Saturday, and the 20-year old believes the team can take a clue from PSV Eindhoven, who knocked the Rotterdammers from the top with a 4-0 defeat last weekend.

"It's a big game," he declared. "We haven't had an ideal start, based purely on results, even though I think we've played well."

"We need to come in there for 90 minutes and make it a hard game for them. I think we saw that with PSV, who made things tough for them and got the win."