GLEN Little is delighted to have Andy Cooke back in his sights as Burnley plot Blackpool's downfall at Turf Moor tomorrow.

Cooke's return from a hamstring injury has coincided with a run of four wins and a draw in the Clarets' last six games, during which time the striker has bagged four goals.

And for a winger in the Little mould it's nice to know that build-up work on the flanks is likely to gain some reward.

"I think we did miss Cookey, although Branchy came in and did well and we were winning games," admitted Little.

"When you take Cookey out of the team you do miss him, because he gives you everything and gets on the end of crosses.

"You know if you put the ball in there'll be a good chance that he will be on the end of it.

"Payts was scoring all the goals at the start of the season but now Cookey's taking over a bit. "

With Cooke in rampant form and Andy Payton eager to start scoring again, Blackpool are likely to have their hands full.

However, the Seasiders won't be short of confidence after putting together a four-match unbeaten run to climb away from the foot of the table and to progress in the FA Cup.

"A month ago you would have fancied us really strongly but they've had a bit of a turn-around.

"They drew with Wigan last week after beating Stoke in the Cup. They have hit quite a good run of form so I think it will be quite a good game," said Little.

Burnley's home record is impressive, though, and they have scored seven goals without reply in their last two Turf Moor outings. "Against anyone we will fancy we can win and Sunday is no exception," Little added.

"But it's a derby game so the form will go out of the window, as they say. I'm sure there will be a good crowd and everyone's looking forward to it."

The Clarets' 2-1 defeat at Luton Town last Saturday ended a four-match winning run. But the overall outlook is bright and if Stan Ternent's men can repeat the two second-half performances they produced against Luton and Wrexham before that, they may prove too strong for tomorrow's derby rivals.

"At the start we did get the results but we we weren't looking convincing and then in the last couple of months we've started to improve," confirmed Little, a key figure again whose own form has mirrored that of the team.

"We've had a couple of good results lately and even at Luton, although we got beat, I felt in the second half we played some really good stuff.

"And I would probably say there's a bit more to come as well.

"It's all about just trying to keep it going. There's still a long way to go and no-one's getting carried away.

"If we win on Sunday there's still a long way to go even this month. We've got a couple of difficult games away to Reading and then we go to Wigan and that could be a real crunch game." Burnley's dropped points a week ago weren't damaging but Little prefers to look at the wider picture.

"I think this season it's wide open," he said. "A lot of teams will fancy their chances of going up and we're one of them.

"One week you win and you're up there and then you get a defeat or a draw and you could slip down a couple of places.

"But we're not too interested as long as we keep doing our job. The object is to try and win as many games as possible and if that's the case then I'm sure we will be up there."

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