KEY man Mitchell Thomas insists he never wanted to leave Turf Moor and is relishing the prospect of being back on the First Division stage.

Thomas, a lynch-pin of the Burnley side that clinched promotion in May, would have been available under the Bosman ruling over the summer and briefly looked as though he may be open to offers.

But the brief stalling over a new contract with the Clarets lasted only a matter of days before the former Luton and Spurs man committed himself to a new deal.

"They were just straightforward negotiations. I said to Stan what I wanted and he had to come in and find out what his budget was.

"He did that, we came to a compromise and everything's done," said Thomas.

He added: "Everyone comes in at the bottom line. Obviously you've got to do your best for yourself and your family and that's the only thing I was doing. As I've said before I love the place. I came here to win things and nothing's changed in that department."

Thomas was confident throughout last season that Burnley would go up and he played his part to the full with a near ever-present record, the only two games he missed ending in defeat. And having spent all but the last four seasons of his career in the top two tiers of English football, the 35-year-old is pleased his prediction worked out. "I'm just delighted to be back in the First Division.

"It is a good standard. It's getting harder but I think this club deserves to be in this league and thereabouts," he said.

Thomas' experience is certain to come to the fore as Burnley try to get a foothold in Division One and he insists that they won't be along just for the ride.

"I don't want to just survive this season I want to go and show people that we've got the nucleus of a good squad and we've got a big club here," he said.

"If we can have a good start and steady the ship early on I think we've got a good chance of achieving at least a mid-table place.

"The manager's looking to add one or two players but I think we've got the nucleus of a decent First Division side which can hold its own in that division."

Who follows Lee Briscoe and possibly Scott Oakes into Turf Moor remains to be seen, although reports of a move for Everton striker Mark Hughes appear to be wide of the mark.