IN-FORM Clarets midfielder John Mullin insists Burnley are optimistic about winning automatic promotion as they prepare for what could be their final home game of a dramatic season.

Two wins in three days over the Easter weekend means the Clarets are only being kept out of a top-two spot on goal difference.

A win over Cambridge at Turf Moor on Saturday and again at Scunthorpe the week after will therefore take them up if Wigan and Gillingham slip up.

And Mullin, whose two goals at Brentford on Monday kept the Clarets' dream alive, feels a second promotion to Division One with the club could still be within his grasp.

"It's hard to say how to feel at the moment. It's nerve-wracking because it's obviously going to go to the wire, but I suppose that makes it exciting.

"There is a certain optimism there. We are still relying on other teams which is a bit disappointing but we're still confident and hopefully everything will go right for us.

"We have given ourselves a good chance and we will be putting everything into the last two games to hopefully sneak in," said Mullin, who played a handful of games when Burnley went up via the play-offs under Jimmy Mullen in 1994.

Mullin then moved to Sunderland where he was involved as the Wearsiders twice went up to the Premiership. However, it was his return to Burnley last summer that's coincided with his biggest input yet to a promotion campaign, thanks to 26 starting appearances so far. "I've never played as many games as I have this season. I've had a bad time with injuries and never had a consistent run.

"This is the longest run I've had, even though there's been the odd interruption this season.

"I'm just hoping that at the end of the season we're up there and that's what counts," he added.

And Mullin's latest comeback saw him excel last weekend against both Millwall and Brentford, where his two goals took him to half-a-dozen for the season, comfortably his best return yet.

"The last couple of games have gone well. The goals came the other day and hopefully there might be one or two more before the end of the season," said the converted striker, who will be looking to put one past former Sunderland team-mate Lionel Perez, now on loan at Cambridge, on Saturday. "We've just got to concentrate on winning our games and hopefully the other results will go our way," Mullin added.

Burnley will be without the injured Ian Cox against Cambridge and for the remainder of the season following surgery yesterday to repair a fractured and dislocated wrist.

That will mean a defensive re-shuffle which should see Mitchell Thomas move back alongside Steve Davis from the full-back berth he has occupied in the last two games.

Dean West could return at right-back but manager Stan Ternent may be tempted to add a third central defender in Gordon Armstrong and revert to a wing-back formation with Paul Cook restored to his central midfield role after injury.