ADRIAN Heath has switched his attention to Malawi international defender Walter Manta

And Manta made his Clarets bow as a second half substitute at the Deva Stadium last night as Burnley went down 2-0 against Chester.

"He's over here on a short trial and we'll see how he copes over the next few days," said Heath, who decided not to pursue his interest in German forward Torsten Boer.

Boer has returned home as has Portuguese under-21 striker Bambo.

But Heath has not given up hope of landing the latter.

And Heath explained: "My interest in Bambo is still there although the Torsten deal is dead.

"We decided he was no better than what we had got in the squad already.

"We'll just have to wait and see what happens on the Bambo front.

"There will be further discussions this week and then we'll make a decision as to what happens."

But Burnley fans will have to wait at least a week before they get their first glimpse of Vince Overson in a claret and blue shirt. The big defender - who watched last night's game from the stand - missed out with a thigh strain.

"We hope to have Vince fit for the Liverpool game. If not, then hopefully for the start of the season."

Heath was critical of Burnley's first half display against the Third Division opposition.

Chester striker John Murphy cashed in two defensive errors to give Chester a win.

Heath added: "I'm not overly disappointed by the score but I thought we were poor in the first half.

"We knew it would be a hard, physical game and Chester played really well. The main thing is that we didn't pick up any injuries and it was another good work-out."

Blackburn referee Eddie Lomas was forced to substitute Damian Matthew and Chris Priest after a second half clash threatened to get ugly.

"I'm just pleased that both players are all right because Damian's completely split his shinguard in half.

"Both Kevin Ratcliffe and I spoke to the referee before the game and said if any incident threatened to get out of hand, it would be better to take them off straight away.

"I thought the referee handled the situation very well."

Striker Liam Robinson is under intensive treatment for a groin strain after missing last night's defeat.

Burnley will send a strong representative side to face FA Vase finalists Clitheroe at Shawbridge on Thursday (7pm).

Burnley have been allocted 2,100 seats for their opening game of the season at Luton which is all-ticket for Clarets fans.

Tickets are on sale now to season ticket holders priced £12.50 and £6 for concessions.

Any remaining tickets will go on general sale on Monday.

FROM BACK PAGE TONY DEWHURST reports Last night's match action PAGE

30 MURPHY'S LAW

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