STEVE Davis announced his return to the fray in the perfect fashion by heading the goal that took Burnley to the top of the Second Division last night.

And Davis admitted it makes a pleasant change from the relegation battle he walked into on rejoining the Clarets last year.

"I'd rather be at the top than at the bottom. We had a difficult time last season but we got some good form going and got on a good run and we've continued it this season, so it's pleasing," he said.

The central defender had missed Burnley's four previous games with a calf strain and so was delighted to mark his recall by banking the points in a 2-1 win over Bournemouth.

"It's nice to come back with a win and to top it off with the winner is very pleasing," he added.

"I think we dominated the game and deserved to win overall but they're not a bad side and we had to work hard to beat them. It was a good ball in to the far post. I had missed a couple earlier in the game so it was nice to make it third time lucky."

The Clarets fully deserved their third successive home League win, although they had to overcome the set-back of leaking an equaliser less than a minute after Graham Branch had put them in front.

"It was a poor way to concede a goal," admitted Davis.

"You know the old cliche you're always vulnerable when you've just scored, and we were a bit sloppy and we paid the price. Someone of Mark Stein's calibre is always going to finish them off. But we were always on top. They had some possession but never really troubled our keeper and I thought we would go on and win it, which we did."

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