I'll make it hard for boss to drop me says Lenny LENNY Johnrose heads for Cambridge tonight on a double mission - to help the Clarets collect their first win for a month and cement his place in the side.
Johnrose returned to the starting line-up for the first time in eight games as Burnley drew 1-1 at Millwall on Saturday.
That result and his performance on the left-hand side of midfield will ensure his inclusion again tonight.
And a win at the Abbey Stadium will do nothing but good for his prospects and those of the Clarets, who are sixth in the table and four points behind leaders Bristol Rovers.
Johnrose said: "I was disappointed not to have been playing in the past few weeks, but any professional would be.
"I just want to make sure I stay in the team and play football.
"The bottom line is that it's down to me. Obviously the manager picks the team but if I'm performing it makes it a little bit harder for him to leave me out and that's what I intend to do.
"We all want to win the games. Sometimes you can't play well but the team still wins and then everybody's happy.
"As long as we can continue winning, the manager's proved that he's not going to change a winning side that's playing well."
Stan Ternent altered both his line-up and formation for Saturday's clash at the Den where the Clarets were denied their first victory in four games by Millwall's second-half equaliser.
Johnrose felt Burnley had still earned a valuable point but stressed the need to turn one into three against a Cambridge side fifth from bottom of the table after their 5-2 win over Colchester on Friday night. "I think all the lads are looking forward to getting back to winning ways. We haven't won for four or five games now and obviously the sooner we start winning the better," he added.
"You always try and get things from your away games and if we can get four points out of these two you've got to be more than satisfied really."
Cambridge have had a difficult start to life in Division Two following their promotion last season.
However, they have only lost once at home, where they have scored 14 goals in six games.
But that doesn't cut too much ice with Johnrose, who recognises this is the kind of game sixth-placed Burnley need to win to beef up their promotion credentials.
"We don't tend to worry too much about other teams," he said.
"You get to know a lot about them from your playing days but we just take it as it comes and let other people worry about that.
"We don't want to be drifting away and slipping into mid-table at all.
"I think we are well capable of staying up there and no disrespect to Cambridge or anybody else but if we want be up there we've got to win games like this."
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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