PRESTON beware. For Brian Jensen aims to bury the memory of the worst day of his Burnley career in tomorrow's tasty Lancashire hot-pot.

Exactly twelve months ago, Jensen was on the receiving end of a verbal volley from Stan Ternent after being blamed for the goals in a 5-3 Deepdale drubbing.

Ternent claimed the Dane picked up "net rash" during the defensive carnage that almost saw the former Clarets boss quit the club.

Under new management, Jensen now feels he is rescuing his reputation. And the next step to a full recovery is healing the scars North End inflicted on him last December.

Jensen admitted: "That was not my finest 90 minutes ever and I still feel I have to redeem myself.

"It was a crazy day all round and I remember there being a bad vibe around the place in the build up to the game.

"We heard a whisper during the week that the manager might be leaving and then after the game we even heard that he had left.

"It was a crazy day and I don't have an explanation for it to be sure - it was just one of my worst days ever.

"I was at fault for quite a few of the goals and, to be fair, I had two or three of those days last season."

Honesty has never been a problem for the likeable Dane, who admits to being his own worst critic.

But being the only senior goalkeeper at Turf Moor last season hardly helped keep Jensen on his toes.

"Stan would often criticise me, but equally he was never short of praise when I did well," admitted Jensen.

"Fair play to him because he put my career back on track and I really appreciated that, but I always expected a new goalkeeper to come in when Steve Cotterill took charge in the summer.

"I'd conditioned myself to accept it even when Stan was in charge because he told me he was going to sign another goalkeeper.

"It didn't matter to me because anyone knows that a good team always needs two goalkeepers and we are just fortunate that I never got injured.

"But there was always going to be competition this season and it really couldn't be a nicer bloke than Danny Coyne.

"I ended up being left out for the first set of games and now, through his misfortune, it's my opportunity to prove that I can do a little bit."

Jensen, who played every game last season, has kept three clean sheets in seven games since replacing Coyne - four in eight if you include his performance as an enforced substitute at QPR.

And he admits he is enjoying being back in the firing line after spending a season taking the flak.

He added: "Everybody must know that you can never be 100 per cent happy if you are not playing.

"All you can do is dig in and hope you will get your chance at some stage. I've had to work hard and wait for my chance and, although I cannot be happy at what happened to Danny, injuries are a part of the game and it could be the other way around.

"Danny has wished me well and I'm glad that he seems to be recovering well and should be back pretty quickly.

"In the meantime, things are going okay for me and I think I'm finally proving to everybody that I can be quite a good goalkeeper.

"As a goalkeeper you are hung out to dry every game because if you make a mistake, it usually ends up costing you a goal.

"Last season was up and down, but that wasn't just me - it was the whole team. But the new manager has come in, brought in some great defenders and we are not struggling any more.

"I know my own consistency was lacking, but that happens when you have a shaky defence.

"We had a decent team going forward last season and it was just at the back where we really struggled.

"I don't have to hide behind that because everyone knows it. The base of any team is the defence and you have to build on that.

"Now we have a good base people are saying that maybe we are struggling a little bit going forward, but at least we can build on that.

"People can see we can still create chances and score goals, so we are definitely on the right lines."

It's not only on the pitch where things are looking good for Jensen. He and wife Maria are busy planning their first family Christmas with their first child, 10-month-old son Jamie, who can rightly expect to be showered with gifts.

For dad, it's a time to forget the ghosts of Christmas past.

And a clean sheet against Preston North End would be the perfect present!