MARLON Beresford has agreed to sign a new contract with Burnley, to the delight of manager Adrian Heath.

And the Burnley boss has also taken Jesus Seba on trial after the Spaniard, one of Wigan's "Three Amigos", was released from Springfield Park.

The highly-rated Beresford has been in dispute over new terms with the club since summer but now he is ready to commit himself to Turf Moor and it will be wrapped up in the next couple of days.

"I'm delighted that we have been able to agree a new deal with Marlon and, while we have been talking about two years, there is a possibility that it could now be three," said Heath.

"It has dragged on a bit and got a little messy at times but I have always felt that the over-riding factor was that he wanted to play for Burnley." Seba, a forward with experience at Zaragoza and with the Spanish under-21 side, turned up for training yesterday after his agent had contacted Burnley.

"Apparently he has been released by Wigan but is keen to stay over here and there's no harm done in us having a look at him over the next week or so," said Heath.

"I think he played against Burnley in a pre-season game for one of his first appearances in England."

Meanwhile, Clarets striker Paul Barnes is sweating on the chance to face the club which launched his League career, after suffering a slight hamstring strain in midweek. Turf Moor boss Adrian Heath admitted he was concerned about both Barnes and defender Mark Winstanley (knee injury) in the build-up to tomorrow's home game against struggling Notts County.

And, while he has not yet ruled either of them out, both will probably need late checks before the manager can finalise his team.

Paul Weller (groin) has joined Steve Thompson, Liam Robinson and Chris Vinnicombe on the casualty list and, with Ian Helliwell on loan at Chester, Heath's squad is depleted.

Tomorrow's Turf Moor clash is one that Barnes won't want to miss.

Burnley's record signing began at Meadow Lane and figured in 53 League games, scoring 14 goals. He moved on to Stoke, before blossoming into a striker of genuine pedigree at York, averaging better than a goal every two games.

Burnley signed him from Birmingham and he has been an ever-present since moving to Turf Moor.

Eleven appearances have, so far, produced five goals - all, of course, in one game!

Even though he has a few injury worries, the manager is able to call on new loan signing Dougie Hodgson and revealed he would have no qualms about putting him straight into the action.

"When we took over at Sheffield United, we didn't know a lot about Dougie," said Heath.

"Injury problems meant we had to push him in at the deep end but he coped particularly well.

"He can play at First Division level, so stepping down to Division Two won't be a problem for him. "I also believe that Dougie will prove a big plus in the dressing room, he's a good man to have around."

Heath was delighted with the attitude of his players in the midweek draw at Watford, following the performance at Millmoor.

And he will demand more of the same against County, who boast a tight defence but have struggled to score goals.

Heath himself replaced Barnes in the last minute of the game at Vicarage Road and could well be involved again in the squad.

The starting line-up is expected to come from: Beresford, Parkinson, Harrison, Overson, Winstanley, Eyres, Matthew, Gleghorn, Smith, Barnes, Nogan, Hodgson, Brass, Cooke, Heath.

County signed Sean Farrell from Peterborough this week but he drew a blank on his debut in the midweek draw with Chesterfield.

There is also a possibility that 22-year-old Tommy Gallagher could be back for his first game since suffering a broken leg in March.

Gallagher plays on the right-hand side and that is one area where County have had problems this season.

Gary Jones could also return to the attack in place of Gary Martindale.

County are likely to choose from: Ward, Wilder, Walker, Derry, Murphy, Hogg, Kennedy, Robinson, Arkins, Farrell, Agana, Martindale, Jones, Battersby, Rogers, Gallagher.

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