IF THE Clarets have any aspirations of getting into the play-offs this season they need to come out this inter-national break flying.

At the moment, we're on a slump with just one win in the last seven games - a run that cost my old Celtic team-mate Peter Grant his job at Norwich.

And that can't be allowed to continue. The ambition is to get into the Premier League - that should be the goal of every Championship club - and to do that we should be beating the likes of Barnsley.

But they won't be a pushover. They've had a great start to the season and will fancy taking the points off us.

A win could catapult us up the league but a defeat could see us sink - just like last year.

It might sound pessimistic but we don't want the kind of run we went on last season because not winning is a difficult habit to break.

But the board backed the manager last season and they must back him with money come January.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, we need a bigger and better squad and the only way we will do that is with spending some money.

Our transfer record is only £1million - that we paid for Ian Moore in 2000 and Robbie Blake in 2002 - and we need to smash that if we're serious about getting into the Premier League.

The season-ending injuries to Besart Berisha and Michael Duff have highlighted just how thin our squad is.

Brendan Flood has come in with a vast fortune and I just hope he backs the manager with some spending power.

He's got great plans for the stadium - which is fantastic - but I'm sure the fans would want a Championship-challenging team as well.

A stadium, if it's as good as it looks, deserves a fantastic team - and the only way to get that is by splashing the cash.

I'm willing to bet that at least five of the top six teams will be made up of the biggest spenders.

The transfer window re-opens in January and I hope we can do a few deals then. I just hope we're not too far behind by then.

One place I feel we're lacking is a goal-scoring midfielder.

We should have gone for Jason Koumas 18 months ago when he fell out of favour because he's exactly the kind of player that we need to supplement the front men.

Andy Gray and Ade Akinbiyi have both been in decent form but the midfield isn't weighing in with enough goals.

I saw Richard Chaplow's name mentioned in the press but I don't think he's the answer.

But that's for the future. First things first - we need a win at Barnsley.