BURNLEY take on a Portsmouth side that will be guaranteed promotion if they can win at Fratton Park tonight.

But Burnley skipper Steve Davis insists that the stakes are a lot higher for the Clarets as he said: "A lot of us are out of contract and not just playing for pride, we are playing for our livelihood."

Davis is one of 14 players who are out of contract in the summer and manager Stan Ternent is not going to start sorting his players out until the end of the season.

"In all honesty you want to go out in every game and do your best but you are aware that there might be more chance of a deal if you have five blinders in the last few weeks of the season," he said. "We have got families and mortgages to pay and I think this summer the situation will be worse than it was last year with hundreds and hundreds of players out of work.

"Clubs are starting to come to terms with the financial losses from ITV Digital and it is going to be difficult this summer. So when people tell us we have nothing to play for, they could not be more wrong."

Davis, now 34, has struggled with injuries for the past couple of seasons but believes that he is now in a position to put those problems behind him.

"It's been difficult, it was difficult coming back from three months out and then going straight back into the team," he said. "I played in a reserve game before I had even trained properly but that was the way I wanted it and the way the manager wanted it. But when you go into a game like the Sheffield United one, it can be hard to keep up."

He produced a better display at Norwich, starting in midfield and then dropping back into defence but he expects to be back in the middle tonight, looking to shackle Paul Merson.

"I have voted for him in the PFA team and he is outstanding, he is a Premiership player," he said. "But I have to say from a Pompey view that they are not a one man team. Nigel Quashie has done well and Yakubu, who won't be playing tonight, has scored a lot of goals that have got them a lot of points."

Points is what Burnley want and a place in the top ten is still well within reach if they can string a run of wins together to end the season on a high.

"We want to go on a good run and that is why we were disappointed not to follow up our win against Preston at Norwich on Saturday," said the skipper.

Pompey lost on Saturday to Sheffield Wednesday to ensure tonight's game will be a potentially special one and Davis said: "I definitely think we can feed off the atmosphere tonight, it is a massive game because they get promotion if they win. It will be difficult and it should be a great atmosphere in front of a full house.

"From a financial point getting promotion is a massive thing for any club. They have invested heavily, not in terms of transfer fees but in terms of the wages they are paying, so is very big for them.

"They beat us 3-0 at Turf Moor, it was a good game and I think that the score flattered them a little. They deserved to win and they are the best team we have faced but Dean West missed a penalty and if that had gone in it might have been different."