STEVEN Thompson is determined to make up for his Carling Cup absence by helping Burnley’s promotion push.

A six-minute cameo appearance for former club Cardiff City in round one of the competition meant the 30-year-old has had to endure a watching brief while his Clarets team-mates have beaten Fulham, Chelsea and Arsenal to reach the semi-finals.

But as the cup-tied striker prepares to face the Bluebirds tonight for the first time since leaving Ninian Park three months ago, he is desperate to further strengthen Burnley's position within the Championship's top six and stop his old employers breathing down their neck.

“If we were to win that would put a bit of light between us, which is important coming into the Christmas period, because teams coming out of that strong set themselves up, whereas if you fall FROM BACK PAGE away sometimes it can be difficult to gain the momentum again,” said Thompson.

“You need to win most of your games, but the teams in and around the top six are the teams that you need to try and beat.

“Sheffield United was massive. We knew that going into the game the boys had done so well against Arsenal.

“When you have a big result like that it's very easy when the league fixtures come around again to drop your standards – it’s difficult to reproduce that form.

“But we were outstanding again at Sheffield United, and the most amazing thing for me was that we were outstanding despite having to shuffle the pack."

Illness to Chris McCann and a pre-match injury to Michael Duff led to Thompson being recalled into the line-up at Bramall Lane, after being kept out by Robbie Blake and Martin Paterson following his one-match ban last month.

He responded by setting up the opener for Paterson in a 3-2 win. And while he was satisfied with his overall contribution on the day, he admitted he is keen to add more goals to his game.

“It would be good to have a better goal ratio than I’ve got. That's probably been my Achilles heel for a while now,” said Thompson, whose only goal for the Clarets came in the 1-1 draw at Charlton in October.

“But as long as I'm bringing something to the team, and I come off the pitch knowing I've contributed to the game, I’m happy.

“I'm aware of the fact that I'm not scoring enough goals, but the good thing is the manager's not putting any pressure on me over it.

“The team are scoring a lot of goals, and everyone has their own piece of the jigsaw.

“I’m aware I’m not scoring enough goals as a striker and that’s something I’m trying to improve on. And believe me I’m trying, but sometimes it just doesn’t happen for you!”

Nevertheless, Thompson has been a key player in Burnley’s leap from bottom to fourth.

The first league win of the season, at Nottingham Forest, coincided with the striker’s debut, and the Clarets have lost only two of the 15 games he has been involved in since.

“We won on my debut at Forest, and that was a point in the season where we had to win because we were on the verge of going the other way, and it proved a catalyst for us," said the former Rangers front man.

“Confidence is a massive factor in football and we started to believe in ourselves, and now we’re on the crest of a wave.

“I’m thoroughly enjoying everything about being at this club. It’s a fresh challenge.

"Things are obviously always rosier when you're winning but I can say I’ve not enjoyed my football as much as this in a long time.

"I've settled in very well with my team-mates, obviously I get on very well with the manager and his assistant Sandy (Stewart)."

And Thompson admitted he doesn’t mind foregoing the limelight providing he does his job for the team.

“I’m happy to be the unglamorous player, as long as I feel when I come off the pitch that I can look myself in the mirror and think I’ve contributed, then I’m happy," he continued.

“Obviously I’m not getting any headlines or whatever, but that doesn’t bother me, I’m not really interested in that sort of thing anyway so it’s not an issue for me.

“It’s been a wee bit frustrating watching (the cup games), although obviously I’m buzzing for the guys with how well they’ve done.

“At the time, you can’t help but be jealous of them, playing Chelsea and Arsenal, and I think we’ve got a really good chance against Tottenham over two legs.

“It’s been difficult to watch, but it’s great and adds another dimension to the season, which started off on such a negative note, but now the momentum we’ve got is phenomenal.

“You can feel it around the place, we really believe we’re capable of doing something special.”