PHIL Gray is primed and ready for World Cup duty but admits he faces a battle to hang onto his Burnley shirt for Saturday's trip to Wolves.

The Clarets striker has been named in the Northern Ireland squad for their opening World Cup qualifier against Malta in Belfast on Saturday week.

But before that he faces two games in three days as Burnley play Wolves and Gillingham over the Bank Holiday weekend with Andy Payton and Graham Branch breathing down the necks of Gray and Andy Cooke.

The latter pair have started up front in the Clarets' three games to date and have done well in helping secure four League points.

But with hat-trick hero Payton and Branch seizing their opportunity with a storming 45 minutes against Hartlepool in the Worthington Cup on Tuesday night, boss Stan Ternent faces some difficult choices for the trip to Molineux.

Gray admits he doesn't know if he will start but even if the verdict goes against him, the former Luton front man insisted he will be just as fired up for the double-header.

"I'm hoping to be involved but the two lads who came on up front on Tuesday night did really well," said Gray, who scored on the opening day at Bolton. "If I have to sit on the bench then I will have to try and get my place back, that's what it's all about.

"I'm not going to sit around moaning. I will just try hard to prove myself to get back in. If lads are keeping you out because they are doing well that's fair enough.

"I'm not a selfish person or a selfish player. All I want is for the club to do well and if that takes 22 of us, so be it."

Gray will link up with the Northern Ireland squad after Monday's visit of Gillingham and looks likely to partner Manchester United's David Healy in attack against Malta at Windsor Park.

"They don't come any bigger than World Cup qualifiers so I'm really looking forward to it," he said.

"It was disappointing to miss the Yugoslavia game with a bit of a knee injury but that's cleared up now and I'm looking forward to playing.

"The manager's got a couple of young lads but he's hoping to get a settled team so I'm looking forward to giving it a go and hopefully having a good game.

"It would be a great start to get a win on the board. You have to win your home games and try and nick some points away from home."

Northern Ireland also face Denmark, Iceland, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic as they bid to qualify for the 2002 finals.

"It's going to be tough but we're going to give it a good crack of the whip," added Gray.