THREE lions on his shirt, Richard Chaplow booked himself into the England team hotel and froze.

The international set-up was a new and frankly daunting experience for a young lad from Accrington still carving out a career in the game.

But the first piece of advice ushered by England Under 21 boss David Platt instantly settled the butterflies in his stomach.

"Do whatever you want. You're with England now," said Platt, providing the verbal rubber stamp to seal Chaplow's remarkable rise through the ranks.

And if international glory can be gained in tandem with domestic achievement, then Burnley will also be the beneficiaries of the most exciting teenager the club has produced in many a year.

It was fate that decreed Chaplow would eventually don the famous claret and blue. Dad Chris was a die-hard fan, right from the days he skipped school to travel to away games.

Many moons later, that meant three-year-old Richard was dragged along to Wembley to watch his dad's beloved Burnley play Wolves in the 1988 Sherpa Van Final.

"I don't remember anything at all about that game," admitted Chaplow. "My first real memories are running round the garden when England scored in Italia 90.

"My dad has been such a big influence though. At first I always wanted to be a goalkeeper.

"I guess I just used to like diving about, so I used to drag him over to King George's playing fields after work and make him take shots at me until my fingers hurt.

"But he finally convinced me to be an outfield player by saying there were 10 positions I could play in, as opposed to one.

"I never really listened to him until I went to soccer schools and got scouted as an outfield player."

"Chaplow, a former St Anne's and St Joseph's Primary School pupil who later attended Mount Carmel High School, added: "While I was in the junior leagues, I always used to be the player scoring goals.

"I started out in centre midfield, but I used to be pretty quick so I moved up front and one year, as an under 11 player, I scored something like 200 goals in one season for the three different teams I played for."

At such an impressionable age, you might imagine Gary Lineker or Alan Shearer would adorn the bedroom wall.

But it was silky skilled winger Steve McManaman who became Chaplow's playing hero - until the first clues to his future position came with the emergence of Manchester United midfield ace Paul Scholes.

"When I came to Burnley at 14 I was a centre forward, but I soon got moved back to centre midfield," recalled Chaplow, who now cites Zinedine Zidane as another playing idol.

"My uncle used to tell me to play there because I could still score goals, but also influence the game more.

"The other thing was that as other boys of my age got bigger, I stayed small and it seemed natural to change.

"It didn't bother me though. Obviously when you are younger you want to score goals, whereas in midfield you can get a bit intimidated and scared of getting hurt.

"But at the end of the day, it's a mind over matter thing and so long as you have the right temperament you get through.

"I've always been pretty calm on the pitch. Everyone gets wound up and does silly things, but I try to keep my cool if someone comes in hard on me.

"You just have to be ready for it and give them a kick back when the referee is not looking!"

Whatever would Zidane say!