MICKY Mellon will be fit to continue his resurgence in the Clarets midfield when Burnley bid to halt Stoke City's revival in its tracks at Turf Moor tomorrow.

And Steve Davis is also nearing a return to action after a fortnight on the sidelines with a calf strain.

Mellon was withdrawn from Burnley's mid-week Worthington Cup defeat by Manchester City with a stomach upset.

But he has shaken off the bug and will be looking to continue his best spell of form since joining the Clarets in January.

"He's playing very well and he's doing what I want him to do. He's nippy and quick and that's what we were looking for when we signed him.

"Now I just need to get Glen Little back on top form and we will be alright," said Burnley boss Stan Ternent.

Like those two, Davis is a key figure for the Clarets and his return will be welcome news.

Tomorrow's game might come a bit too soon but with three matches coming up in the space of a week, he could soon have a role to play.

"He's getting closer but I don't know if he's ready yet," confirmed Ternent, who is also hoping to add John Mullin to his squad for the visit of a Stoke side which beat Millwall last Sunday and Macclesfield in the Worthington Cup on Wednesday night after losing their opening two League games.

However, the Clarets are definitely without Andy Cooke through a hamstring injury which will mean further changes to a side Ternent admits he would like to get more settled.

Cooke apart, the boss is likely to revert to something like the team that beat Oldham last week to collect a seventh point from a possible nine so far. "If we play like we did last week we'll be well away, and there's no reason why we shouldn't," added Ternent, who takes his squad down to Bristol Rovers on Monday for the second leg of the Bank Holiday double-header when Alan Lee and Mark Robertson will both be missing through international call-ups.

Ternent hasn't set any specific points target for the weekend's fixtures and next Friday night's visit of Bournemouth, but will just try and win them all.

"For every match the aim is to get three points. I would like nine points from the next three games and that's within our capabilities," he said.

"But these are tough games, as they all are.

"I don't really set targets, other than to get to 50/51 points because that maintains your status.

"Then the sooner you get that, the sooner you get up to the eighties which is where you want to be.

"But it's a long, hard season and you can just aim to try and win every game."

Tomorrow's game will see a return to Turf Moor for goalkeeper Gavin Ward, who had a successul three-month loan spell with the Clarets last season before moving from Bolton to Stoke on a permanent basis.

Burnley from: Crichton, West, Cowan, Smith, Mellon, Thomas, Armstrong, Cook, Payton, Johnrose, Lee, Little, Jepson, Branch, Brass, Mullin, Grant, Robertson, Weller.

Stoke from: Ward, Robinson, Sigurdsson, Jacobson, Clarke, Oldfield, Kavanagh, O'Connor, Aiston, Connor, Thorne, Short, Crowe, Keen, Petty, Mohan, Muggleton (g).

Burnley are away to Blackpool in the Youth Alliance tomorrow morning.

Rossendale Clarets have places available for Monday's trip to Bristol Rovers. Phone 01706 224924

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