Turf Titbits

Some little bits of Clarets news that you may have missed this week are summarised below including some good news regarding Steven Thompson`s recovery from groin surgery

Steven Thompson Progressing Well

It had been thought Steven Thompson could have missed the rest of the rest of the season following an operation recently to fix an infected groin problem.

Eddie Howe though is now hopeful he could still play some part in the run-in.

"Thommo is way ahead of schedule, he`s looking good at the moment," said the Clarets gaffer

"We thought he would be gone for the rest of the season but we`re now hopeful we can get him back before then.

"He may well be back training next week, which will be a big positive sign for us."

Burnley Reserves Lose Top Spot to Preston

The Clarets second-string have been in top spot in the totesport.com League all season but last Wednesday local rivals, Preston thrashed Wrexham 4-0 to leapfrog the Clarets and lead the table by just one point having played the same number of games. Burnley had been leading the table by eleven points at one stage but 2011 has not been kind to them and they have managed just one win from their last five games so far this year. The Lilywhites reserves in contrast have hit a stunning run of form having now gone ten games undefeated.

Burnley could regain top spot on Tuesday night if they beat Oldham at home but they will have to do it with a depleted side. Alex-Ray Harvey is the latest second-string player to go out on loan following in the footsteps of Kevin Long and Richard Eckersley. Chris Anderson and Michael King are also both ruled out with injury. Wes Fletcher too remains a doubt. The following day Preston travel to Padiham to take on Accrington Stanley.

Things are certainly hotting up in the chase for the league title with just four games left to play after the matches this week.

Both Cork & Delfouneso Earn England Under 21 Sub Appearance

It is of course the International break at the moment and two of the Clarets in action this week for Stuart Pearce`s England Under 21 side were our on-loan players, Jack Cork and Nathan Delfouneso. They both had to be content with a place on the bench though although they did come on as late substitutions in the 4-0 victory against Uefa Under-21 Championship hosts Denmark in Viborg on Wednesday night. Striker, Delfouneso indeed nearly made the score 5-0 in stoppage time but should have done better after side footing a shot against Danish keeper, Jonas Lossi from just four yards out.

McCartan on England Under 17 Duty

Our youth team striker, Shay McCartan is currently part of the Northern Ireland squad playing in the elite stage of the European Under 17 Championship finals out in Belgium. They play three games in Group 5 this week starting with a juicy clash against England Under 17s on Saturday. Two days later they face Spain before playing Belgium on Thursday. McCartan will be hoping to help Northern Ireland Under 17s qualify for the finals in Serbia to be held in the summer.

Burnley X-Files: Jimmy Mullen Loses Job

It has not been a good week for former Clarets manager, Jimmy Mullen after getting the sack at League 2, Rotherham. Mullen was appointed Assistant Manager to Ronnie Moore at Rotherham in September 2009 but both this week were given the boot after a shocking 5-0 defeat away to Chesterfield a week last Friday. Rotherham looked to be heading for automatic promotion to League 1 a few weeks back but have since managed to pick up just three points from a possible fifteen although they are still well-placed for a play-offs spot in 5th place. It would appear the Millers have simply been unable to score managing only 2 goals for those last five games prompting Ronnie Moore to label his players as 'gutless` and amazingly stating that 'if he had a gun he would shoot them`. Whether that outburst was the final straw for the Rotherham board we can only speculate but both are now looking for new jobs.

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