GRAHAM Branch is hoping the New Year heralds a "fresh start" for the Clarets.

The Burnley skipper ended 2003 on a sour note with an icy blast at the Turf Moor boo-boys following his costly mistake against Stoke.

But with a testing FA Cup third round tie at Mansfield next in line, followed by a series of tough First Division clashes with Crystal Palace and West Brom, Branch is anxious to wipe the slate clean and help get Burnley's faltering season back on track.

He said: "I really hope this can be a fresh start because we are going to need it. If we have another half of the season where we only collect as many points as we did in the first half, we'll be struggling.

"We've got the players and the squad, when everyone is fit, to be doing well in this league and we know that with another two or three players we would be doing very well.

"The gaffer will bring them in if and when he can, but in the meantime we have to keep plugging away because we have some hard games coming up in the new year and if we can pick up a few wins everything will look a bit healthier."

Third Division high-flyers Mansfield will fancy their chances of causing an FA Cup upset at Field Mill tomorrow.

While Burnley have recently stumbled from defeat to demoralising defeat, the Stags have picked up three wins and a draw since their FA Cup second round victory over Wycombe in mid-December.

But Branch reckons the clash with Keith Curle's men could provide exactly the tonic Stan Ternent's troops need to start 2004 on a high.

Branch, 31, added: "I think it's a good thing to have a cup tie now because if we win it gives us a shot of confidence to build on.

"Mansfield will fancy their chances after our recent run and it will be a very tricky game, but if we go there and play as we are capable of, hopefully we will come away with something because a cup run could pick the whole place up again.

Burnley will have been glad of a break after suffering at the hands of Stoke last Saturday.

A chance to recharge the batteries and re-double their efforts on the training ground could work wonders after a hectic spell of three games in nine days over the Christmas period.

Branch, who earlier this week declared himself a "jinx", said: "The football we have played in the last six or seven games has been brilliant, but we are not winning.

"It's not a big thing that needs sorting to leave us flying again, but at the moment every goal we concede compounds everything and makes life harder.

"You can see the lads heads going down, but I'm still confident we can get out of this rut if we keep playing the way we are.

"If we were mid-table, I think the fans would be happy with that, but at the moment we are finding it very hard.

"But we have the players to turn things around and if we go out with that mentality in the next game at Mansfield, things will turn. I'm 100 per cent confident of that."