PRE-SEASON games are all about getting your fitness for the new season but it is still great that three of the strikers got off the mark at the weekend.

Marvin Sordell, Lukas Jutkiewicz and Ashley Barnes all scored twice in the 8-0 win over FC Grossklein in Burnley’s first pre-season friendly on Sunday and that is good news.

Last pre-season Danny Ings scored a lot of goals and took that into the season and had a really good season.

He didn’t score on Sunday but he will be pleased that the other three strikers did, because it takes a weight off his shoulders.

There are other people who can score the goals too and they can be shared around.

I bet Danny is thinking as well, ‘I haven’t scored yet, I want to get off the mark’. But there’s nothing at all to worry about, it’s pre-season!

It’s great to have four strikers like that at the moment – even without the injured Sam Vokes.

They are all together, I use the word family a lot about this Burnley squad and it is like that on and off the pitch.

These friendlies are only for fitness but sometimes the opposition really want to give their all and beat you.

I remember playing in a pre-season game for Preston against St Johnstone once and the centre half turned to me when the score was 0-0 and said: ‘You an Irish international, you’re easy’.

I took insult from that, all I was doing was getting fit.

I thought, ‘I want to show him what I can do’ and 10 minutes later I had bagged a hat-trick.

I said to him, ‘Not bad for an Irish centre forward!’.

He said he wished he hadn’t said that and walked off. I was just laughing at him!

People ask me a lot, ‘Will Burnley stay up this time?’.

My answer is always ‘Yes, no problem’, because the manager will stay strong for us and determined.

He will pass that attitude on to the squad and they will get it right.

Finally, on a different note I went to Towneley Park this week and right beside the hall there they have created a crest of the East Lancashire Regiment out of flowers.

It was really amazing, at a time when the country is marking the war.

I would recommend that people go and see it.