IAN Cox was set to undergo an X-ray on a hand injury today after helping Burnley keep their promotion dream alive with a magnificent maximum points haul over the holiday weekend.

The classy defender damaged his right hand when hit by a fierce shot in the Clarets' 3-2 victory at Brentford yesterday and was due to have a scan to check the extent of the problem.

Burnley are starting to show inevitable signs of wear and tear from a sustained promotion challenge with Paul Cook having to miss the Clarets' third successive away win which lifted them level on points with second-placed Wigan.

And manager Stan Ternent will have a couple more knocks to check on before Saturday's home game against Cambridge United, when his in-form side could seal a play-off place.

The boss explained: "Paul's got tendonitis from his heel, Ronnie Jepson had flu but wanted to sit on the line and Graham Branch is carrying a bit of a strain so I thought I needed Gordon (Armstrong) on the bench in the eventuality of anything happening with that.

"Steve Davis played and he has a bit of a hip problem. But we've come through, there are six points to play for and we will be trying our utmost to get them."

Cook missed only his second League game of the season as Ternent erred on the side of caution with his midfield play-maker.

"If I had played him yesterday then perhaps I could have lost him. And I have to keep one eye on the next two games and one eye on the play-offs if it turns out that way. "I told Paul the reasons for it and he was fine with it," the manager added.

Two more wins and dropped points anywhere along the line for Wigan and Gillingham will take Burnley back to Division One for the first time since 1995.

But the Clarets may still need four points to make sure even of a top-six spot, with Ternent insisting: "I'm more concerned at the moment with getting in the play-offs. We're not there yet so we need to kick on.

"Nothing's guaranteed in football. Preston have won the championship but from the play-offs point of view there are six teams for five places.

"It's very important to us to grab one of those places, at the worst. So that's our immediate target and if it takes until the last game of the season then that's how it's got to be, because it's a very competitive league this year." Burnley produced another impressive performance to come from behind at Griffin Park and clinch an eighth away win of the season with second half goals from Ian Wright and John Mullin, who struck twice.

"He's been out injured for a while and two games in 48 hours is tough. But he's a very fit athlete and he scored two smashing goals," said Ternent.

"The lads came out in the second half and they did the business, again.

"We were a bit slow by our standards in the first half and I asked them to up it by 10 or 15 per cent in the second half and it worked out well for us in the end. "I felt overall we were deserved winners, although they did put a bit of pressure on which you would expect."

The boss added: "We are getting towards the end. The lads can sense a little bit of something and they are going for it.

"I have changed the system a little and we are capable of scoring goals. But unfortunately we had to score four on Saturday to win and we had to score three yesterday.

"But we won, we got the points and we've got two more very important games.

"Our intention is to win both games obviously, and if we do that, we'll see where it takes us."

Wigan's remaining fixtures are at home to Wrexham and away to Bournemouth.

Gillingham entertain Brentford on Saturday and then Cardiff a week tonight, before going to Brian Flynn's Wrexham on the final day.