BURNLEY launch a crucial run of five promotion clashes in their next seven games at Stoke City on Saturday, with manager Stan Ternent admitting: "it's better than a relegation battle."

The Clarets face Stoke, Bristol Rovers, Wigan, Gillingham and Preston over the next five weeks in a spell that could decide whether they are chasing automatic promotion or a play-off place in the end of-season run-in.

It's a crunch time and one Ternent is looking forward to after scrapping for every point to try and stay in the Second Division this time 12 months ago.

He said: "We've done well to be up there. It's a testing time but we had those last year and I know which position I would rather be in.

"They are always good matches at Stoke and as a club we've got a decent record down there."

It was a 4-1 win at the Britannia Stadium last April that virtually guaranteed Burnley's safety, although they still had to beat champions-elect Fulham at Turf Moor a week later to be sure.

"That gave the lads a lot of confidence because we did play well," recalled Ternent, who would love to secure a similar outcome on Saturday.

The boss is expecting to have a clean bill of health and a virtually full-strength squad to select from, once he's checked on Peter Swan after he played the full 90 minutes in the reserves' 2-0 win over Manchester City on Wednesday night.

"It just depends how Swanny is and that he's had no reaction to the other night. He was a bit stiff but he was in yesterday doing some work on the bike," Ternent added. Provided he's okay, Swan is likely to retain his place on the bench and proved in mid-week that he could be a useful option to have as back-up for the striking pair of Andy Payton and Andy Cooke.

Mark Robertson also played well in the reserves and could be pushing for a substitute's spot, although Glen Little's return from a one-match ban might keep him waiting.

Little is a key man for the Clarets but on the back of last Saturday's 3-0 win over Oldham Athletic, the winger, who scored twice at Stoke last season, may have to start on the bench.

It's a healthy position for Ternent as he has a number of options to play with.

"If they play well they keep their shirt. It's not a problem," he said.

However, John Mullin is a strong candidate for a starting slot after impressing as a substitute against Oldham following a bout of flu, while Tom Cowan is also available after serving his one-match ban. Stoke are likely to make one change from the side that knocked Blackpool out of the Auto Windscreens Shield on Tuesday night, with Peter Thorne expected to return as a second striker in place of midfielder Siggy Gislason.

Meanwhile, young Clarets striker Anthony Shandran is on the road to recovery from surgery to cure a hernia problem.

Shandran, whose progress in the youth team and reserves had earned him a place in the senior squad in recent times, had a key-hole operation to repair the damage.

Manager Stan Ternent confirmed that Shandran is making good progress and should be available again within the next couple of weeks.

And Brad Maylett, also sidelined by injury, is also close to full fitness and could figure in the reserves next week.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.