BURNLEY boss Stan Ternent will meet Ian Wright in London next week in a last attempt to keep the former England striker at Turf Moor.

Wright has indicated that he will stick to his plan to retire from professional football this summer.

But Ternent, back from holiday and behind his desk today, has offered Wright a new contract and won't concede defeat until he has had a sit-down chat with the 36-year-old goalscoring legend.

Ternent has been in contact with Wright on the phone but wants face-to-face talks with the former Arsenal front man, who he believes could still play a part for the Clarets in Division One.

"As I've said before, Ian's his own man and he will make his own decision but my view is to play as long as you can," said Ternent, who's convinced Wright can still produce the goods, as he showed in helping Burnley to promotion.

"He will be coming up next week to have his stitches out (following an ankle operation) and then going back down to London. "I want to go down there and speak to Ian and his wife Debs. I think that's the best way of doing it to find out first-hand where he's up to."

Ternent was out of the country when Wright appeared on the Jerry Springer show last Friday night to suggest that he may be ready to call it a day.

The player has also been quoted elsewhere saying that he's ready to move onto other things and spend more time with his family.

However, Wright has previously admitted that Ternent would be the only person who could persuade him to carry on so the Clarets' chief, who previously coached Wright at Crystal Palace, may have one last shot at extending their working relationship. "All this speculation means nothing to me until he says yes or no.

"Until I've spoken to Ian myself I don't know. I'm just keeping an open mind on it," Ternent added.

Meanwhile, Ternent insists he has a job to do at Turf Moor following speculation earlier this week that Sheffield Wednesday may turn to the Burnley manager to revive their fortunes.

"It's flattering to be associated with clubs like that," he said.

Further afield, Clarets midfielder Mark Robertson has won a recall to the Australian under-23 squad to raise his hopes of competing in the Sydney Olympics later this year.