SCOTT Arfield believes the lack of egos in the Burnley squad is helping to drive the Clarets onto ever greater success.

The Canada international has been in and out of the side this season - but can expect a recall at Stoke tomorrow due to Johann Berg Gudmundsson's hamstring injury - and reckons the competition for places is better than it has ever been in his time at Turf Moor.

But the 28-year-old believes that increased competition can only help if everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet.

"You’ve even got that [competition] with the strikers," he said. "Andre was on fire but finds himself out of the team now. It's how you deal with that and how you come back from not being in that team.

"You try and train and show the manager you're worth that place in the team.

"It only bodes well for us and keeps us stronger that everybody’s on the same page, and ego goes aside to try to get the best for the club. That’s the three points on Saturday.”

"This is my fourth season, and every single time a player comes in, they buy into the culture, and buy into the feel on the training ground, so it's massive for us to keep that mentality, with everybody on the same page.

"That's the reason we're sitting in the Premier League as opposed to having another season in the Championship.”

Burnley will seek a first away win of the season at the Bet365 Stadium, but Arfield said the Clarets had to try and silence the crowd.

"We can't over-think it, as much as we know that one point away from home is nowhere near good enough," he said. "We can’t go there as a barrel of nerves.

"We need to go there and stay in the game, and frustrate that crowd as much as possible. We need to do that in every game we go into. With a bit of luck we can get the results."