I BET the Burnley players can't wait to run out onto that pitch tomorrow.

It seems like an eternity since the end of last season and all the focus will now be on the coming campaign.

Steve will be using these matches to get the right blend in his squad and assess the players' fitness levels.

Back in my day it was something that we really looked forward to. You could have all the running in the world, but it was games that mattered the most. We'd had a a long summer break and it was back to work, with a view to the bigger picture and the start of the new season.

I'm sure that's what the Burnley players will be thinking. They'll have one eye on August 11 and they'll be out to impress Steve in the next five or six pre-season games so they can command a shirt and cement a place in the side as soon as possible.

And that starts tomorrow.

To be honest I would like to have seen more new faces in the squad by this time, but everything's quiet, not just at Burnley, but all over the Championship.

I don't know why it's like this, because there are players available who are out of contract.

I thought with Brendan Flood coming on board there would have been more activity at Turf Moor.

I said all last season that the right-back position is a big problem and it's something that's still not been sorted. Jon Harley has done a great job on the other side, but players have been played out of position at right-back and it's not really worked.

I would like to see that sorted as a matter of urgency.

And I know we've got a whole host of strikers on board now with Akinbiyi, Gray, Lafferty and Berisha; but I'd like to see an out-and-out goalscorer brought in. Someone who has a real sniff for a goal.

Robbie Blake has been mentioned and he would maybe fit the bill.

Steve's a manager who keeps his cards very close to his chest and he never gives too much away.

I'm sure though that he has his targets and he'll get the players in he needs