MARK Robertson has staked his claim for a place in the Burnley side which he believes is well equipped to beat the drop.

The Australian under-21 international made his full debut for the Clarets in Tuesday night's Auto Windscreens Shield win over Notts County.

And his performance in midfield will make him a contender to replace the suspended Mark Ford against York City on Saturday.

Waddle has pinpointed York's visit as the platform for Burnley's climb off the foot of the table, and Robertson has every confidence in the Clarets' ability to get out of trouble.

"I think we have got the players here. We are good enough to stay in the second division from what I have seen and hopefully we can stay up. Another three points would be good on Saturday," he said.

Robertson feels he is now adapting to the pace of English football and is keen to play his part in both the short and long-term futures of Burnley. The 20-year-old, who signed a two-year deal with the club after a successful trial spell earlier this season, added: "I would love to stay in the squad until the end of the season then start from scratch and work in pre-season and hopefully get in the full first XI."

Robertson is enjoying life at Turf Moor after his initial attemps to break into English football foundered at Nottingham Forest.

"I then went up to Scotland and Glasgow Rangers but it was just an experience really," he added.

"Nothing came of it then Chris Waddle offered to have a look at me and took me on. It was my ambition to play in Europe. I had watched a lot of Premiership games and wanted to give it a go. I was just lucky that things worked out and the gaffer gave me a go."

Waddle will be almost spoilt for choice for the visit of a York side which has slipped out of the play-off places on the back of a string of draws and last Saturday's home defeat by Millwall.

Chris Brass, Gerry Harrison, Neil Moore, Damien Matthew and the manager himself are likely to be added to the side on mid-week cup duty.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.