EDDIE Howe has backed Charlie Austin to make up for lost time and become a success at Burnley – after seeing his own big transfer ruined by an early injury setback a decade ago.

Austin joined Burnley from Swindon for £1.2m in January but played only four games before suffering a dislocated shoulder, requiring an operation that ruled him out for the rest of the season.

The 21-year-old is now on course to return for the Clarets' pre-season and Howe believes both Austin and Martin Paterson, on his way back from a thigh injury, can provide Burnley’s forward line with a real boost going into the 2011/12 campaign.

During his playing days Howe saw a big move from Bournemouth to Portsmouth end in disappointment as he suffered a knee injury shortly after his arrival, before a recurrence meant he made only two appearances for the Fratton Park side before returning to his old club.

But the Clarets boss is hopeful that Austin will have no further problems with his shoulder, despite the striker also suffering a dislocation during his time at Swindon last September, and knows he has the talent to impress at Turf Moor.

Austin scored 37 goals in 65 games during an 18-month spell in League One with Swindon.

“We’ve got high hopes for Charlie after seeing how well he did at Swindon,” said Howe.

“He’s at a good age and we always signed Charlie not just for this season but for next season as well.

“It’s tough when you go to a new club to get injured just after you arrive, because you want to go and impress but you can’t due to injury.

“But it can happen. It happened to me at Portsmouth. I had been very keen to go there and do well from day one.

“Hopefully he will suffer no effects from the injury now, though, and he will come back and make a strong push for a place.

“Both Charlie and Pato will be like new signings for us and it’s very important for them to have good pre-seasons, and then they can come back and give us a lot of competition up front.”