JOHN Mullin should have another chance to launch phase two of his Burnley career as the Clarets tackle an important Bank Holiday double-header this weekend.

Mullin's bad luck with injuries followed him from Sunderland to Turf Moor when he returned to Burnley in the summer.

The former Clarets trainee gave way to a troublesome toe problem after just 45 minutes of the opening game of the season at Wycombe.

And his comeback from a minor operation was blighted by a hip injury sustained in the reserves which kept him out of last Saturday's win at Oldham.

Burnley boss Stan Ternent had hoped to ease him back into action in Tuesday night's Worthington Cup second leg against Manchester City but the player failed a fitness check.

However, it looks as though he will return to the squad for Saturday's home game against Stoke City and Monday's trip to Bristol Rovers.

"I think John will be available for the weekend.

"We'll get another couple of good days training into him and we'll see where we're up to," confirmed Ternent.

With Andy Cooke on the sidelines for another couple of weeks with a hamstring injury and Alan Lee set to depart for international duty on Saturday night, Ternent will be glad to have Mullin's attacking options open to him.

And chairman Barry Kilby is another looking forward to seeing Mullin back in action.

"He really wanted to come back to Burnley in the summer. That's important and he's the sort of character we want," said Kilby.

Ternent used the mid-week cup tie to rotate his squad but apart from Cooke's absence he's likely to return to the line-up that won at Oldham for the visit of Stoke.

Micky Mellon was taken off early in the second half against City with a slight stomach problem but the in-form midfielder can be expected to play.

Andy Payton, Dean West and Paul Cook look certain starters and Paul Smith, having been given a breather in the light of the knee trouble he suffered from last season, is also likely to play.

Chris Brass and Mark Robertson confirmed their return to fitness on Tuesday night and with the games about to come thick-and-fast, Ternent is anxious to not to add anyone else to Cooke and Steve Davis on the treatment table.

"We need to try and keep clear of the injuries. Certainly when we get to the weekend we've got three games in a short period of time so it will be all hands to the pump then," he added.

While Lee heads home to Ireland on Saturday night, Robertson will travel down to London to link up with Australia's Olympic Under-23 squad.

Robertson, who has shaken off a thigh injury, has been named in a 20-man party which also includes Leeds United's Harry Kewell.

And the Clarets man will step onto the Premiership stage himself when the Olyroos play Southampton next Thursday.

The 10-day training camp is an important part of the Australians' build-up for Sydney 2000 and coach Raul Blanco is using the London get-together to check out his Europe-based players, who also play the Kuwait Under-23s on September 7.

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