ONE of the first phone calls new Everton boss David Moyes can expect to receive today will be from Clarets chairman Barry Kilby.

The Burnley chief has been monitoring developments at Goodison Park all week in the light of the recent enquiry about the availability of former England star Paul Gascoigne.

It is a deal that the Clarets are still very interested in completing to boost their push for promotion.

"Our next move will be to talk David Moyes so we can get his view on things," admitted Kilby this morning. "We will pick up the baton today and see where we get to. At this stage we are not sure what his attitude will be but the clock is ticking for us all the time."

Moyes, who left Deepdale last night, will take his first training session this morning as he meets his new players and his first priority is to pick a side to face Fulham at Goodison Park tomorrow afternoon.

That means any decision about which players he will allow to leave may not be made until after that game, delaying any possible move to Turf Moor for Gazza until the start of next week at the earliest.

It is also unlikely he would want to do Burnley any favours just two days before his old club takes them on in a crucial promotion battle.

But with or without Gascoigne, Burnley boss Stan Ternent spent this morning assessing his squad ahead of the big game with the club Moyes has left, at Turf Moor on Sunday evening.

The media attention may be on the managerless Lilywhites but the sole focus at the Gawthorpe training ground is on ending a run of more than three months without a home win.

And Ternent will be hoping that a rare week without any action will have given a couple of his key players the chance to shake off niggling knocks that have.

"Steve Davis had a slight calf injury after the game at Stockport County and Paul Weller's knee has been a bit sore," he admitted.

Former North End player Lennie Johnrose returned to action for the reserves on Monday night but is a doubt for the game along with the versatile pair of Gordon Armstrong and Graham Branch.

But the manager's options ahead of the big game have at least been strengthened by the return of Glen Little from injury and Dean West from suspension.

Little has been back in training following his concussion suffered against Nottingham Forest a fortnight ago. League rules mean a mandatory fortnight absence from matches but he is expected to be cleared to face North End on Sunday.

He was on the scoresheet when the two sides met at Deepdale in December and he will be eager to play his part in the crucial closing weeks of the season.

The game is expected to be a farewell for assistant manager Kelham O'Hanlon and first team coach Jimmy Lumsden who will be in charge of North End on Sunday.

It is believed they will leave Deepdale on Monday to team up with Moyes again. That will leave a void that Preston will want to fill as quickly as possible with experienced Joe Royle and promising young Cheltenham Town boss Steve Cotterill two possible names in the frame.

Meanwhile Clarets fans wanting to see some football tomorrow might consider crossing the Pennines to see Terry Pashley's youth team in action.

They will take on Bradford City in the Merit League at Rawdon Meadows, Apperley Bridge, in a match rearranged from Gawthorpe, kick-off 11am.