STEVE Cotterill wants Burnley to hand new Watford manager Adrian Boothroyd a baptism of fire this weekend.

The Clarets can finally smash through the 50-point barrier with victory over the Hornets, who yesterday installed former Leeds United first team coach Boothroyd as Ray Lewington's successor at Vicarage Road.

Watford took the dramatic decision to oust Lewington following six Championship games without a win.

But Cotterill is more concerned with his own side's indifferent form and is eager to pick up a second win in nine games on Saturday after seeing bad luck ruin all hopes of launching a late play-off push.

The Clarets boss said: "I think these next two home games against Watford and West Ham are important for us now.

"After two weeks off the players should be fresh and ready to go again and it would be nice to finish the season well.

"Hopefully the break will signal a change in luck as well because I don't think we've had too much rub of the green in the last six weeks.

"Quite easily, that could have been our best six weeks of the season and yet we can turn around and say it turned out to be the worst."

Burnley's solitary victory since winning at Coventry in mid-February came in the last home outing against relegation-haunted Rotherham United.

Draws away to Crewe and Derby and at home to Leicester could easily have registered more valuable points, although the back to back defeats to Preston and Sunderland, then Wolves and Sheffield United in the week before the Easter shutdown, finally scuppered all hopes of making a concerted play off push.

Cotterill added: "If you look at the opposition we've had, they haven't all been struggling sides.

"Most have been challenging at the right end and yet we have come so close to picking up some terrific results."

Meanwhile, Burnley goalkeeper Danny Coyne is again expected to keep goal for Wales in Vienna tonight when they face Austria in their latest World Cup qualifier.

All Welsh hopes of making next summer's tournament in Germany evaporated last weekend when the Austrians won 2-0 at the Millennium Stadium.

Clarets loan striker Dean Bowditch is also due to feature for the England U19 side against Moldova at Blackpool's Bloomfield Road (7.45pm KO).

Bowditch has already helped England to qualify for the U19 European Championships following victories earlier this week over Denmark and Sweden.

l Burnley Reserves are also in action this evening with a Pontin's League game against Rochdale. Kick off at Accrington Stanley's Interlink Express Stadium is (7pm).