STEVE Cotterill is reluctantly having to fast-track Kyle Lafferty on the road to Championship football.

The Northern Ireland U21 striker was this week whisked back from a loan spell at Darlington to help solve a player crisis ahead of tomorrow's trip to Coventry City.

And the Burnley manager Cotterill admits he would rather have left the 18-year-old out on loan gaining valuable experience rather than interrupt his education to make up the numbers.

He said: "The past six weeks have been a big boost for Kyle. He went away and scored a few goals when it mattered, not just in reserve games and we're pleased for him.

"He's not ready to step up to the Championship level on a regular basis yet, but he has to come back into the first team picture here.

"He will be better for the experience at Darlington, but by no means is Kyle all of a sudden going to come back here and be scoring 20 goals in the Championship.

"The boy's only had six or seven weeks in League Two and there is a big step up.

"He's a young lad and if we had more players I wouldn't have called him back until a month before the end of the season, had a look at him and decided then whether he would have been good enough to go back into our squad.

"If not, we may have got him back out in League One and see how we can do there, making his step up gradual, rather than one big hit."

Cotterill, who will have just 16 players at his disposal for the club's first ever trip to the Ricoh Arena, including teenagers Lafferty and Chris McCann, added: "I think Darlington were pretty sorry to see Kyle go. His biggest learning curve will come through playing and that's the reason for sending youngsters out on loan.

"We would do it a lot more, but the trouble is the kids here have to go straight into the squad with armbands on and a rubber ring.

"They don't have time to learn to swim themselves - they need other aids to keep them afloat like other professionals around them.

"But to be fair to Kyle and Chris, they've both survived and kept their heads above water.

"What happens below the water is they are kicking like holy hell to try to stay afloat with all the others but you have to bear in mind the opposition we're playing against.

"Chris has done very well here this season and Kyle has done very well at Darlington, and now we'll see what that learning curve has done for him.

"But to be fair to the pair of them, whether they're kicking like hell under the water or not, they're hanging in there."