BURNLEY chairman Barry Kilby has insisted he had no qualms about rejecting Fulham's £3million offer for Kyle Lafferty on transfer deadline day.

And the Clarets chief has stressed that their days as a selling club are behind them.

Fulham manager Lawrie Sanchez upped his initial offer of £2million for the Northern Ireland striker before the transfer window closed last Friday.

Had the transfer gone through it would have smashed Burnley's record transfer sale of £1.75million, which they received when Ade Akinbiyi moved to Sheffield United in 2006.

But Kilby admitted that 19-year-old Lafferty was an integral part of the Clarets push for the Premiership.

"The beauty is we don't have to sell," he said. "It is tempting, but we're trying this season, we do want to get to the Premiership and I think selling Kyle at this stage would have been the wrong message.

"We want him to grow and prosper in the team and grow with Burnley along the way.

"Sometime (an offer) might come in for him, and I think he will be worth a lot more in a couple of years anyway.

"A couple of seasons back we've had to sell at crucial times; we don't have to this time."

And Kilby acknowledged that the Clarets are benefiting from a squad that has got strength in depth.

"For the first time, I sat at a match with three players sitting in the stands with me at Colchester," he said.

"I think we do have cover this season as well when injuries and suspensions come in."

He added: "We want Kyle scoring goals for Burnley, having some good seasons with us and helping us get to the Premiership.

"I think the right decision is to build this season and really have a go for it."

New director Brendan Flood added: "I wholeheartedly agree with that. We all share the view that Kyle Lafferty can do a great job for Burnley.

"We've got a medium-term plan and we don't want to be going one step forward, two back.

"Every transfer window you will hear about all of our best players because we do get that increasingly as the side gets better."

And Flood stressed the role supporters could play in making Turf Moor a place where their young stars want to play football.

"If supporters make them feel they should be here, they want them here, turn up in bigger numbers and cheer them on and they'll stay," he said.

"They're just lads who want to be worshipped, play football and get to the Premiership.

"We've got to make them think supporters believe in that as well.

"They can convey that just from how they are at the match.

"We've all got to get that passion back for Burnley."