AS a football supporter, there are any number of reasons for getting the hump when the latest international break rolls around.

Saturday afternoon – usually one of the focal points of the week – becomes a vast Serengeti-like tract of emptiness.

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For those of us in relationships, the threat of a couple of soul-destroying hours measuring up furniture in Ikea is never all that far away.

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And after being immersed in the high-octane, hurly-burly thrills and spills of the Premier League, watching England flat-track bully a collection of Sammarinese shop workers, students and accountants simply doesn’t cut it.

However, this latest enforced hiatus has come as something of a blessing in disguise for the Clarets.

Ever since Danny Ings limped out of the action at Selhurst Park, and Messrs Marney and Jones had their afternoons prematurely curtailed in similar fashion against Sunderland seven days later, Burnley have been forced into operating without a trio of their most consistent performers.

Happily, the latest reports sug-gest that all three should have a clean bill of health for this weekend.

And, although their replacements showed plenty of grit and resolve in salvaging a point at the King Power Stadium, it’s difficult to imagine Sean Dyche not reverting back to his tried and trusted midfield dynamos and a striker who bagged in excess of 20 goals last term.

Having successfully rid themselves of their non-scoring hoodoo at Leicester, the next target has to be recording the first victory of the 2014/15 campaign.

And given that three of the next four fixtures take place at Turf Moor, with West Ham United, Everton and Hull City providing the opposition, the Clarets clearly need to make the most of their home advantage as they bid to move out of the relegation zone.

Not that it will be straightforward.

Sam Allardyce, sure to receive the warmest of welcomes on his return to East Lancashire this coming Saturday, has enjoyed a good start to the season with the Hammers.

With four goals in five appearances, the in-form Diafra Sakho will clearly have to be well-Shackelled.

Still, the feelgood factor brought on by Ross Wallace’s last-gasp moment of magic – combined with the return of key players and a packed and expectant Turf Moor – should all help boost the team and will hopefully go some way to helping Burnley lay claim to all three points.