ANY plans Burnley boss Stan Ternent might have had about having a behind closed doors friendly match this week have been shelved as he explained: "I haven't got enough fit players!"

With a gap of several weeks between reserve games there had been a suggestion that Ternent might look to give some of his fringe players a run out but he has more pressing concerns to deal with.

He will be hoping that he can get some of his injured stars out of the treatment room and on to the training pitch in the next couple of days and he prepares for the visit of Walsall to Turf Moor on Saturday.

He already knows he is without strikers Gareth Taylor and Dimitri Papadopoulos as they have now gone away on international duty with Wales and Greece respectively.

That means he is down to around 13 or 14 players who are at the moment ready for selection against the Saddlers.

"Dimi and Gareth have gone away now," he explained. "Nik is at Crystal Palace and then we have got Tony Grant, Paul Weller, Lee Briscoe and Alan Moore who are all injured at the moment."

Gordon Armstrong is also a slight doubt so that leaves Ternent with 13 players to choose from, including winger Brad Maylett himself only just back from injury.

The doubt over the fitness of Armstrong is a particular concern as he is the club's stand-by keeper should Marlon Beresford have a problem during a game.

Armstrong made his first league appearance of the season as a sub at Hillsborough on Saturday, his 100th league game in total for the Clarets, having missed the early part of the season with a hamstring problem.

Meanwhile the Burnley boss was today hoping to tie up a new deal with inspirational keeper Marlon Beresford. The manager, chairman Barry Kilby and the player were due to have talks aimed at sorting out a new deal to last until the end of next season.

Beresford has yet to finish on the losing side since he returned to Turf Moor at the start of last month and his displays last week at Huddersfield and Sheffield Wednesday were right out of the top drawer.

The 33-year-old has been looking for the added security of a long term deal having had the first month of the season on a short term contract at York City and last month with the Clarets.