BURNLEY will be looking at attacking opponents with Greek fire next season.

Clarets striker Dimitri Papadopoulos underlined his potential as a top class striker with an international hat-trick in midweek.

And his starring role as skipper of the Greek side in their 6-2 European Under-21 Championship victory over Northern Ireland in Belfast in midweek had his club manager Stan Ternent enthusing about what the Turf Moor faithful could be watching next season.

"Dimi has been very close to starting for us and his hat-trick in midweek has merely underlined the fact that he is an excellent player," said Ternent.

"But we knew he was an extremely good player when we brought him here - he is still just 20 and he knows how to go about scoring goals.

"It has taken him a while to settle in, and as far as the first team goes he has been in and out of the side.

"However, we now feel we have got to the point when it is going to be sooner rather than later that he gets an extended run in the first team."

And the Burnley boss was happy that what has always been seen as a long term investment now looks like paying dividends with Papadopoulos.

"He is quite mature given his age," said Ternent. "But he is a young lad who is a long way from home and he has had to grow up quickly in a lot of ways.

"Really when we brought him here it was a case of would he sink or would he swim and he has had to show his maturity."

And Papadopoulos was likely to get a chance - either from the bench or even maybe a start - in today's home clash with Watford.

Ian Moore seemed set to sit in on the right side of midfield, with Glen Little out on loan at play-off hunting Reading, leaving options open for experimenting with the front-runners.

Ternent knows all about the abilities of Moore, Robbie Blake and Gareth Taylor, but the Clarets can benefit in their closing games of the season by finding out just which blend of strikers can be put together for next term - especially given the ripples across the pool Papadopoulos has caused this week.

And given the financial constraints that will be set upon most football clubs this close season, Ternent probably is in a healthier position than some of his rivals.

Midweek talks with chairman Barry Kilby have handed Ternent the financial realities of where the Clarets stand with regard to players' contracts, though the Clarets boss was not ruling out that there would still be opportunities to wheel and deal during the summer.

"There can still be transfers in the close season," said Ternent. "But the fact is that we need to get money in first and we will just have to see how things pan out.

"I understand the situation at the club as far as transfers go, I don't have to like it, but it is my job to work with what we have.

"The truth is that financial problems exists throughout football. Like other clubs we had a budget for the next two years and that has had to change.

"A lot of clubs are in the same boat and we just have to deal with the reality we have.

"All we can hope is that the fans get behind us for the rest of the season, and that we can have a good finish to what has been a more than reasonable season when you look at what we have done in the cups.

"We can still finish in the top half of Division One as well, and when you consider where we were two seasons ago we have come an awful long way."