PAUL Barnes swiftly became something of a forgotten man at Turf Moor because of the instant success of replacement Andy Payton.

But Barnes' goals had made him a popular figure during his one-and-a-half year stay with the Clarets.

And with a career striking record of better than a goal every three games, he's certain to earn the respect of his former club when he leads the Bury attack against Burnley at Gigg Lane on Sunday.

"I think whenever you play against an old club it's a big game and, with it being a derby game and on Boxing Day, it makes it that bit more," said Barnes.

"I still live in the area, all my friends are Burnley fans and when you've played at Burnley you can't help becoming a little bit of a Burnley fan yourself because it's that kind of club and leaves a lasting impression."

Barnes left Turf Moor to join Huddersfield Town in a swap deal involving Payton in January, 1998.

While Payton hasn't stopped scoring goals since, Barnes couldn't get a regular starting slot at Huddersfield and moved to Bury for £40,000 in March.

After 30 goals in just 63 League starts for the Clarets, Barnes could be considered an unfortunate victim of fate.

But the 32-year-old is philosophical about how his career has unfolded since.

He explained: "Burnley were struggling in the league. Chris Waddle had come in and it was not going how he wanted. It was just a case of changing something and the opportunity came about.

"He wanted Andy Payton, Peter Jackson wanted me and I think we were pretty much the same sort of age and with the same sort of record.

"Andy has done a fantastic job and I went to Huddersfield and never really got a chance and had to leave for Bury.

"Burnley were struggling near the bottom and Huddersfield were in the First Division. On paper it was a great move. But the club meant a lot to me. I enjoyed playing there, the fans and the stadium were fantastic and they were a great bunch of lads.

"The circumstances meant Burnley had to do something and it worked because they stayed up and Andy Payton had a lot to do with that."

And Barnes isn't surprised to see Burnley now challenging for promotion.

He added: "Everyone knew it was only a matter of time before Stan got it right.

"When you have a good squad of players like he's got now, you're going to get success. He's brought a consistency into the side that was lacking.

"We used to concede goals but they're not doing that now. With Steve Davis and Mitchell Thomas there, they have really tightened it up."

But the Bury marksman, one of the senior professionals now helping out with the coaching in the wake of Neil Warnock's departure from Gigg Lane, is eager to plot the Clarets' downfall and inspire a Shakers revival after they ended their long wait for a win by beating Scunthorpe last Saturday.

"It will be a tough game but I'm sure Burnley will be expecting the same coming to our place," said Barnes, who scored only his second goal of the season at Glanford Park.

"It's great to go into the game after being on the scoresheet myself and on the back of a good win.

"After winning at Scunthorpe this is a great game to come into to try and keep the momentum going. The ground will be about full, there will be a cracking atmosphere and there are a lot of playing connections with Burnley.

"Over the last two or three games we have started to show what sort of a side we can be. It will be the first time we have played in front of our home fans for a while and hopefully they will see that just because Neil Warnock has gone, we haven't chucked the towel in."

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