LIFELONG Burnley fan Marc Pugh wants to prove a point and knock the Clarets off the top of the Championship on Saturday – seven years after being released by his boyhood club.

Pugh is expected to feature for Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth on Saturday, lining up at Turf Moor for the first time since he was told he had no future with the Clarets by Steve Cotterill in 2006.

The midfielder, who grew up in Stacksteads, did not make a first-team appearance for Burnley and had to drop into the lower leagues with Bury, Shrewsbury and Hereford.

But following promotion with Bournemouth he now finds himself back in the division he once hoped to play in for Burnley.

And, although Pugh hopes the Clarets reach the Premier League this season, he wants Saturday to be a day when he shines for Bournemouth at Burnley’s expense.

“It’s my first time playing there since I left and I want to show people what I can do,” the 26-year-old told the Lancashire Telegraph.

“I was so disappointed to be released by Burnley, at first it was quite hard. But at the same time I wanted to prove Steve Cotterill wrong.

“It hasn’t always been easy since then but it’s made me a lot stronger in the long run. It made me work even harder.

“Now I’m playing in the Championship so things have worked out well.

“I want to prove to people that I can play in the Championship and prove people wrong.”

Saturday’s match is a fixture full of connections. Former Clarets management duo Eddie Howe and Jason Tindall return to Turf Moor, while Burnley stars Danny Ings, Sam Vokes and Brian Stock all face their old club.

Pugh was linked with a return to Burnley in the summmer of 2012, when Howe was considering a move for a player he signed for Bournemouth two years earlier.

“I did hear about the reports and at the time we were struggling in League One so of course I would have been interested,” Pugh admitted.

“But now we’re in the Championship and I’m loving my time with Bournemouth.

“It was fantastic for us to get Eddie Howe and Jason Tindall back last year.

“They are really loved down here and the manager has done a great job again.

“It’s just his manner, the way he is with people and his coaching – he spends hours on the training ground working with players.

“We will want to get a result on Saturday for the manager.

“But we’ve just got to concentrate on the game and not get overawed by everything else, particularly myself.”

Pugh was a pupil at All Saints Catholic Language School in Rawtenstall and played a year ahead of Chris McCann and Kyle Lafferty in the Clarets’ youth system.

“My family and a lot of my friends are all Burnley fans,” Pugh said.

“I’ve had to get quite a lot of tickets. My family will definitely be supporting me, I’m not sure about my friends – they will probably hope I score but Burnley win!

“I still look out for Burnley’s results, although it’s different now because sometimes you hope they don’t get results so we can finish above them, but at the same time I’d like to see them do well.

“It’s been a surprise to see them start so well. I hope Burnley go up and we get into the play-offs.”

Pugh knows the threat that Bournemouth will face from his former Cherries team-mate Ings.

“I know a few of the lads there, obviously Ingsy and Marvin (Bartley), who’s out on loan at the moment,” he said.

“I know Duffo (Michael Duff) from my days there too, I saw him in the Trafford Centre in the summer, and I worked with Terry Pashley as a young boy. I owe him a lot.

“It’s been great to see Ingsy doing well, we knew he had ability when he played here and he’s worked very hard.

“I’ve haven’t seen as much of him recently apart from his goals, but I think he can play at the top level.”