NEW captain Steven Caldwell admits he is relishing the challenge of steering Burnley back up the table.

The former Sunderland central defender arrived at Turf Moor last month amid their worst run for over 25 years.

But the Scotland international admits he is unfazed by the responsibility of playing his part in ending a three-month winless streak.

"It's been fine for me really because obviously I'm a defender and, more often that not, defenders don't really come into successful, top of the table teams because things are 100 per cent fine there and the manager at that time's not wanting to change anything," Caldwell said.

"It's something I haven't got a problem with. I feel that I've been welcomed, the spirit's good, the confidence is there, we've got good players, a good manager and good staff.

"Everything seems right to me. Results haven't gone well for us just now.

"That's why I think I've been brought here, to try to improve the team and the squad and also to bring my experiences to the team and hopefully to improve us, and I hope to do that.

"I hope I'm doing that now but I hope to get better at that the more settled I get in the team."

It isn't the first time that Caldwell has been involved with a side desperately seeking a win.

Caldwell captained Sunderland to promotion to the Premiership in 2005, but the following season the Black Cats recorded only three victories and subsequently suffered an immediate return to the Championship.

Many of their defeats were by narrow margins, while they earned a 0-0 draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford in April.

"We were never outplayed in games, we were always in the hunt, we just went on a bit of a streak where we kept losing games," said Caldwell, who admits there is no shortage of confidence in the Clarets camp.

"We're playing with confidence. It's hard for anybody to pinpoint (the reasons for the run).

"The manager must be pulling his hair out because it's hard to see why it's happening.

"It's about doing things on the park, working hard - the basics are important in this kind of run.

"It's the hardest thing, whether it's the captain or manager, to keep everybody going, and when you're on a bad run, you sort of forget how to win, like you forget how to lose when you're on a good run.

"Burnley have had both sides of that this season, the success when the wins were coming - I was watching from afar and it was fantastic to watch, the way they were playing.

"Somehow we seem to have got in a bit of rut with some poor performances, and some decent performances where we haven't had the rub of the green.

"That's just football, but it will come back if we keep doing the right things and keep working hard."

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