JOHANN Berg Gudmundsson is looking to finish the season on a high after admitting his first campaign at Turf Moor had been a frustrating one.

The Iceland winger has impressed when fit during his first season with Burnley, but he has suffered two hamstring injuries that have kept him sidelined before a knee injury picked up in the FA Cup defeat to Lincoln City left him kicking his heels for the last couple of months.

But the 26-year-old returned to action on Sunday as he came off the bench for the final half an hour against Manchester United and now the summer signing is hoping for a final flourish over the last four games of the season to help secure the Clarets’ Premier League safety.

“It’s really good to be back. I’ve been injured for a long time now so it’s definitely good to be here,” Gudmundsson said.

“It’s been a frustrating season but there’s not much that I can do about that now. It’s just about not getting injured again because no footballer wants to be injured.

“I’m disappointed with that but I’ve just got to look forward instead of looking back and hopefully get myself back in to the team. I thought I was doing quite well when I was in the team.”

Gudmundsson, a £2.5million summer addition from Charlton Athletic, has started 13 times for Burnley in league and cup this season but after a run of eight successive Premier League starts between September 26 and November 26, only four have followed thanks to those injuries.

But Gudmundsson has his sights firmly fixed on the future now.

“The first two were both hamstrings, which is something you can work on to make them stronger,” he said. “But with the tackle in the FA Cup there’s not really much you can do about it because it’s just a bad tackle and he got me in the wrong spot.

“It’s frustrating but you can’t look back at it. I need to look forward and make some positive moves now.

“I want to play more minutes and I think I can help the team in many ways. That’s the aim, to get back in to the team.

“That was my first step (on Sunday) and I was delighted to be back out on the pitch. We’ve got a few more games to go so hopefully I’ll get a few more minutes.”

Gudmundsson arrived in the summer to provide competition on the wings and the record signing of Robbie Brady has added to the fight for places out wide.

That is a scrap that will only intensify this week with the expected return of Scott Arfield for a knee injury, but it’s a battle that Gudmundsson is welcoming.

“That’s what you want in a football team,” he said. “In our squad we’ve got competition for every position so it’s tough to get in to the team.

“I was in there before so I believe that I can get back in to the team.”

The former AZ Alkmaar man came on with the Clarets already 2-0 down on Sunday, but he praised the character shown by Burnley to keep plugging away against Jose Mourinho’s side.

“They are a great side and they showed that they’ve got plenty of quality, especially on the counter attack,” he said of United.

“A lot of teams in this league could’ve crumbled in that game when 2-0 down in the first half but we didn’t. We stuck at it and we gave them a good game in the second half. You just can’t give a team like Manchester United a two goal lead.

“No matter what we always keep going and we’ve shown that throughout the season. We did that again in the second half.”