Jerome, two-goal hero in the midweek victory at Portsmouth, is a man on a mission as Everton come to town today.
Manager Alex McLeish still drools over the 23-year-old’s stunning 30-yard piledriver which earned his side a 2-2 draw at Liverpool earlier in the season.
And he is urging Jerome to really start showing what he is capable of and shut up any of the critics who are so quick to get on his back.
It was the hitman’s 20 goals for Cardiff as a teenager that prompted Brum to splash out £3m for him.
Since then, he’s valiantly been learning his trade, although he’s failed to hit double figures in a season.
But after seeing Jerome’s double sink Pompey in midweek and leapfrog his side back above Everton into eighth, McLeish says it is time for more of the same.
At 6ft 1in tall and built like a boxer, Jerome has been told to start punching his weight in front of goal.
McLeish said: “A lot of players show bravado, but they are human and sensitive to criticism. Their confidence levels are sometimes not what they seem.
“We have to build on Cameron’s strengths. He has improved, but he can improve even further because he is still young.
“The more goals he scores, the more confident he will become. Strikers are confidence animals and when they are not scoring, they tend to lose a bit of their touch.
“Cameron had some stick last week, but he responded brilliantly and in the best way of all by scoring twice.”
That took his tally for the season to seven and now McLeish is urging him to flex his muscles on David Moyes’ men and strengthen Brum’s claims for a European slot.McLeish’s newly-promoted side have been the season’s surprise package, although the Scot refuses to get fooled into a false sense of security, using Everton as a sharp reminder.
He said: “They had a bad start to the season, which tells you everything you need to know about this league.
“I know a lot of it was down to injuries, but they found themselves languishing. That tells us why next year will be so important.
“We are well aware of this so-called ‘second-season syndrome’ and that’s why we can’t afford to take anything for granted.”