CLARETS wideman Graham Branch is hoping his comeback could be as soon as a fortnight - but he is not going to push the issue.

The left sided player's worst nightmare arrived when his pre-season was cut short by an Achilles tendon problem.

He had thought everything was going okay after the agony of last season where he sat out the last six weeks of with a knee problem.

He spent all pre-season working hard to make sure he sealed his place back in the first team and everything seemed to be going to plan on his comeback.

A steady start in the Isle of Man was in place before he put in the hard work against Everton and Chelsea but then against the West End cosmopolitans a routine clearance ended in a less than routine period in plaster.

His ill fortune has taught the Liverpool-born 29-year-old not to count chickens - or anything else.

"Hopefully it could be two weeks or three before I'm back in the running, but I've not had that much good luck lately," said Branch, who joined Burnley from Stockport County three seasons ago. "With the injuries beforehand, the pre-season gave me a fresh start so I put all my energy into the pre-season games and I really enjoyed the game against Everton.

"Maybe I wanted to play too much and ignored the signs, but I went out and played against Everton and that might be the reason my Achilles went."

The standard guidelines are that Achilles tendon problems are worse than a break and Branch was certain that this particular injury has taught him to make sure that in future he listens to his body.

"Sometimes people tell you to take it easy, but you want to play so badly that you just go for it," he explained.

"I think that in future when I am told take it easier I will do.

"It feels very bad not to be totally involved right now.

"The lads have done very well, they are top of the league and this is just the time that you really want to be totally involved.

"When you look at it the only game the lads have lost is the Manchester City match when they were a player down, so they are playing with a lot of confidence.

"I am just eager to be involved with that."