STEVE Davis is battling to be fit to face Bradford City at the weekend but he was not risked in the reserves against Bury yesterday afternoon.

The Clarets skipper has been out of action with a calf problem since he was injured in a challenge with Paul Ince at Wolves in the second game of the season.

He had hoped it would be only a week or two until he was back in the side but the injury has been slow to heal, similar to the problems that dogged him last season and restricted him to playing in just half of Burnley's League games.

Davis is not the only man trying to get fit for selection as Stan Ternent explained: "The skip is back in full training and he and Graham Branch are now close.

"Paul Weller may be a week more than those two along with Gordon Armstrong but they have all been working hard with Nicky (Reid) and Sos (Ian Liversedge).

"But they did not play in the reserves because I have to be extremely careful even though they do need matches."

The lack of experienced pros meant it was once again a very young Clarets side that lost 2-1 to Bury yesterday but reserve team boss Ronnie Jepson was still delighted with the way his side played.

"I thought they were excellent because they were playing a team where every player was a pro," he enthused. "A match like that is great experience for the lads.

"The first half was a bit scrappy and we played into their hands by knocking too many long balls. But after that we tried to play in the right manner and we did well to create a few bits and bobs.

"We had a word with the lads at half time and told them we wanted them to play the same way as they do in training and they passed the ball a lot better. We had the lion's share of the possession.

"We also defended really well apart from letting in goals from two set-pieces.

"But when we saw their side we thought it could be a six or seven against us so we have to be pleased."