BURNLEY fans may not see powerhouse striker Ade Akinbiyi in full flow until next season.

That's the view of manager Steve Cotterill, who believes Akinbiyi has had the toughest possible start to his Turf Moor career.

The former Stoke City ace has only featured in two games since mid-January after injury sidelined him before joining the Clarets for £600,000 a month later.

The first resulted in a red card after only two minutes of his Burnley debut at home to Sunderland.

Akinbiyi's first start in a claret shirt, following a frustrating three-match ban, ended on a much happier note as he opened his account for the club with a late consolation goal at Sheffield United.

Now the well-travelled striker is in line for his full Turf Moor debut against Watford tomorrow, following the enforced two-week Easter shutdown.

And despite him upping his fitness levels over the past fortnight, Cotterill is wary of fans expecting too much, too soon.

He said: "Ade has had a very tough start to his Burnley career. Obviously everyone remembers the Sunderland game, which he is very sorry for, and unfortunately the next game was always going to be a tough 90 minutes away to Sheffield United, who were vying for his signature with us.

"I still don't think we will see the best of Ade until next season. He provides something we haven't had this season - that big, strong presence.

"But after not playing for such a long time, the Sheffield game got to him in the end and we have to use this spell as a bedding-in period for him and also to get on the scoresheet.

"The bonus was he did that straight away at Sheffield United and I am sure he is looking forward to playing at home again now."

Cotterill has not set any targets for his players in the closing eight games of the season.

Instead, he is looking for the Clarets to use their well-earned break as a springboard to build up some momentum.

He explained: "The players have had a good break now. They should be quite refreshed and hopefully we can do well in the remaining games, especially the ones at home.

"All the games we have left are going to be tough because they are against teams with plenty to play for, so there wont be anything easy about them and I certainly haven't set my players a target.

"We have a few players, like Ade and James O'Connor, who need to bed themselves in for next season and we have to get a few other players back to performing to their best between now and the summer if we can."

Burnley have just one injury doubt ahead of the Hornets' visit, with skipper Frank Sinclair nursing a sore Achilles.