DIMITRI Papadopoulos is gunning for the England Under-21 defence on Friday night - and a place in the Clarets first team.

"I can't wait to play and I certainly hope I will be able to show people what I can do against England," he said.

"I think the gaffer (Stan Ternent) is going to be there and I know some of my Burnley team mates will be there too.

"It is also a very important game for all of my team-mates because it is the dream of all the players in Greece to come to England and play. That is what I wanted before I joined Burnley and I know they want to come over too.

"That is why we will not go for a draw because they want to play very, very well and win."

Steve Davis, Mick Docherty, Paul Cook and Sam Ellis were among those to wish Dimitri well at the Gawthorpe training ground yesterday afternoon.

The Greek Under-21 striker flew home to Athens this morning despite the fact that the match against England takes place at Ewood Park, just ten miles down the road from his new club.

"I fly to Greece on Tuesday then come back to England on Thursday for the game," he explained with the help of fellow Greek Luigi Cennamo, the Clarets second choice goalkeeper and part time translator.

"Then after the match I am going back to Greece with the team before I return to Burnley next week."

It is a hectic schedule for the young striker who has just had a couple of weeks away on international duty at the Mediterranean Games in Tunisia.

And while he loves to represent his country, he admitted he is just as eager to make his name in the Clarets first team. "It is a more difficult game in England than in Greece," he said. "It is a different style and it is very different weather!

Burnley boss Stan Ternent swooped for Papadopoulos in the summer, paying Akratitos £500,000 for his services after the youngster helped fire his club to promotion.

It was his exploits in the Greek second flight that caught the attention of the international bosses and Papadopoulos scored for the Greeks in their 3-1 victory over England in June. He said: "It was a headed goal and I hope I can do the same at Ewood Park.

"I have played in the last five games and we know how important this match is. We are guaranteed to finish in the top two but if we do not lose we will finish top of the group and that is important for the next stage.

"We have some good players who play for the big clubs in Athens and we also have a player at Fiorentina in Italy and one who has just moved to Arsenal in the Premier League here.

"This will be a special game for me because I now live in England and so close to where the match is played. I hope that some Burnley fans will be able to come and watch the match."