PAUL Weller is determined to put a triple dose of injury misery behind him as the Clarets begin a hectic schedule of big games.

The 27-year-old returned to action against Walsall last week, despite not being fully fit, and he admitted: "I've had enough of injuries and just want to get a good run of games behind me.

Injury one: Weller had an operation on his knee at the end of the last season to sort out a problem that he has had to learn to live with.

Injury two: A freak injury in pre-season training ends with him having to put his foot in plaster leaving him playing catch-up.

Injury three: An attempted cross in the Worthington Cup clash with Blackpool sees him hobble off with a slight tear in his groin.

Stan Ternent will want as many players fit and ready for action for that programme and Weller is hoping his bad luck will have ended after coming in threes.

"We have got three weeks of massive games ahead of us and these are the ones you want to be really fit for.

"It starts with the match against Leicester and then we have got Ipswich, Portsmouth, Grimsby, Preston and Tottenham."

Weller added: "It has been terrible and I never realised until this year how important all the pre-season work we do is.

"At the start of the season when I played against Brighton and Wolves I was really fighting my lack of fitness, I knew I was a yard short and it was hard work.

"I only really started to feel good when we played Blackpool and it was then I got the sharp pain in my groin that told me I had done something else.

"It is hard to keep your spirits up and for a couple of days I tended to sulk as it seemed to me that it was just one thing after another."

Weller admitted that he was some way short of 100 per cent fit when he returned in the middle of the park against Walsall but he has been happy with the hard work he has put in on the training ground this week, turning in when others have had a break.

"We had a really good day on Monday with lots of running which is something I need," he said. "But on Tuesday I felt like I had been in a war. That showed I am still playing catch-up.

"All you can do when you are injured is grin and bear it but it has been a very frustrating start to the season.

"Last week it was just a case of playing as long as I could. The gaffer said if it was 45 minutes that would be fine but I played more than an hour. But I was tired, I knew my legs weren't there and I was running on adrenaline. I gave the ball away a couple of times so Granty came on."

He is looking forward to playing Leicester, as he explained: "When you play teams that have come down from the Premier League, they tend to give you a little bit more time on the ball. It will be fantastic."