GILLINGHAM'S experienced striker Iffy Onuora believes that Burnley have the potential and the pedigree to push for a place in the Premier League.

"The club is out of our league in terms of the crowds they get and their history," he said. "But that won't count for anything when we take them on tonight.

"Preston is a similar club with a similar history and we beat them 5-0 here on the first day of the season.

"At the start of the season I would not have picked Burnley as being in my top two at the finish but bearing in mind what they did last season they are in the clutch of sides that could easily make the play-offs."

Like Burnley, Gillingham are in their second season in the first division having come up as play-off winners behind the Clarets and Onuora said: "The first season was hard but I think this is even harder.

"We probably surprised a few people last season but like Ipswich are finding in the Premier it is hard to stay up there.

"But Burnley have started well after almost making the play-offs last year. We drew both games last season and it will be another hard match.

"I know they have got some good players like Glen Little and then there is Andy Payton who will always score goals."

Onuora is in his second spell with the Gills in a career that started at Huddersfield Town and has seen him also play for Mansfield and Swindon.

A decade ago he was at Huddersfield and he spent one month on loan at Colne Dynamos when Clarets legend Jimmy Robson was on the Colne staff.

"To be honest I did not want to go to the club because I had been in the Huddersfield team but Colne were in the FA Trophy semi-final and it was a chance to get to Wembley," he said. "The main thing I remember is driving from my home in Bradford everyday."

The 34-year-old has come a long way since then and he has over 100 league goals to his name.

He was back in the Gillingham side on Saturday for the 2-0 victory over Walsall and he admitted: "We needed the win and we needed the clean sheet.

"We had been on a run of four defeats and things had not been going well. Our target this season has been a moving one.

"After we beat Preston so well we were maybe thinking about the play-offs. Then the bad run left us looking at finishing fourth from bottom. I think that realistically somewhere between the two would be okay for us. Mid table and a decent cup run.

"I had been out for a few games with a gashed knee but it was great to be back and we now have competition for places up front. I played with Guy Ipoua, Marlon King is still our leading scorer and Bob Taylor has come back to us."

Onuora knows that Burnley had a nightmare at Wolves in the first half and he is wary of some form of backlash.

But having won at the weekend he is looking for another win. "The division is so tight at the moment, if a team can win a few on the trot you are suddenly up there," he said. "That means we need to beat Burnley."