BURNLEY boss Stan Ternent is savouring the prospect of sending out 'his team' at Craven Cottage as he looks to put the record straight tonight.

The Clarets' last visit to Fulham ended in a 4-0 defeat in the bleak mid-winter of 1998 as Burnley tumbled towards a relegation dogfight.

Ternent labelled the performance as pathetic and insisted that it hadn't been his team.

The side was in fact a mix of players he had inherited and those he had brought in on a short-term basis.

But the manager was adamant that once he had been able to recruit the players he really wanted then Burnley would be a different proposition.

That was borne out by their promotion 18 months later and tonight they will start with just Paul Crichton, Andy Cooke and Andy Payton, assuming he plays, from the team humbled a season-and-a-half ago.

"I will be going with what I consider to be my own team. I know whether we win, lose or draw that I have a far better team now than we were at that stage of my tenure as Burnley manager.

"That's what I had inherited. These are my own players," Ternent insisted.

Burnley face the First Division leaders, who are yet to drop a point, in the perfect frame of mind after their 1-0 win at Crystal Palace on Saturday.

That result has taken the pressure off but given their tenacity and battling qualities Ternent's men won't lie down against a Fulham side that beat Barnsley 5-1 on Sunday.

"They were very good but we're looking forward to it and we've nothing to lose.

"Obviously we will start as underdogs. They have got some good players and won five out of five with 15 goals but we are well prepared," added Ternent, whose squad was at the Barnsley game. "It will inspire them or frighten them to death and hopefully it will be the first one. That's why we took them.

"I think Fulham will be a force to be reckoned with. The manager's in a position where he can buy quality players and I think he's done that.

"The expectation level at Fulham is a promotion to the Premiership. They haven't had a blip, a hiccup or anything but from our point of view it's an excellent place to go to and we'll see how far away or how near we are."

Ternent will give a late check to Steve Davis (back) and Phil Gray (hamstring).

Payton would come in for Gray but if Davis misses out it may mean a change of position, and the captain's arm band, for former Fulham player Kevin Ball.

Ball could play at sweeper against the club he left in the summer but which still holds fond memories.

"They are a different class bunch of lads down there, the management staff, the physio, the kit man, everyone.

"They are what you would class as a really nice club and it will be good to go back and see the people and sort of say goodbye because there wasn't really the opportunity before I left there," said Ball, whose chances of playing the anchor role in midfield were diminished by the arrival of John Collins.

"He (Jean Tigana) went out and bought John Collins with a view to him going on the coaching side in the future so obviously he was looking long-term with him.

"Nobody is guaranteed a place no matter who you are and who you play for and I wouldn't like to think it different at any club.

"But I had the chance to come to Burnley and help them build on what they achieved here and that's why I've come here."

And Ball is hoping to help the Clarets spoil Fulham's perfect start.

"We will be treating every team we come up against with the same respect and trying to beat them, whether it's Palace, Fulham or anyone else," he said.

Fulham are likely to be unchanged, unless Collins recovers from a groin strain to replace Fabrice Fernandes.

Burnley will choose from: Crichton, Weller, Briscoe, Thomas, Davis, Cox, Little, Ball, Gray, Cooke, Cooke, Payton, Branch, Mullin, Jepson, Maylett, Mellon, Arnstrong, Lee, Michopoulos.

Fulham select from: Taylor, Finna, Brevitt, Melville, Coleman, Davis, Goldbaek, Clark, Fernandes, Saha, Hayles, Boa Morte, Lewis, Hayward, J Collins, W Collins, Hahnemann.