BURNLEY manager Eddie Howe says some of the club’s FA Youth Cup semi-finalists may have played their last game for the youth team, as he looks to integrate Turf Moor’s young talent into his senior squad.

The Clarets reached the final four of the competition for the first time in 34 years, but bowed out on Wednesday night in front of a crowd of 10,556 at home, following a 3-1 aggregate to Blackburn Rovers.

The Under 18s have six games left to extend their 12-game winning run in the league and stake a claim for the Youth Alliance title.

But after naming midfielder Steven Hewitt on the bench against West Ham United last weekend, Howe is expecting to use the last eight games of the Champ-ionship season to increase the youth team intake, starting with tomorrow’s trip to Portsmouth.

“There will definitely be a group training with us every day from now on,” said the Burnley boss.

“They’ve been with the youth team because we wanted them to be able to play as well as they could for the (semi-final) games and not take them out of their environment.

“Now the FA Youth Cup is over for them we’ll now have a group with us.

“It may well be they’ve played their final game, but they may dip in and out as well. We’ll wait and see.”

And Howe insists he will approach their progression with caution.

“If you throw too many in at the same time it can actually do more harm than good. It can be dangerous to do that,” he warned.

“You need to play players when they’re ready to play. I’d like to think we could get a couple some action from now to the end of the season and integrate them into the squad.

“We will definitely have a number training with us in the first team because we’ve only got a small squad so it’s a really good opportunity to get them in with us on a day-to-day basis.

“We’ll assess it and hopefully make the right call on when to add them in.”

Howe added: “It is a massive step up, probably more from a physical standpoint than anything else.

“What you don’t want to do is throw them in when they’re perhaps not physically ready.

“I think they’ve shown mentally that they can handle the big occasion – I don’t think in either game (semi-final leg) they’ve been overawed and it will be invaluable experience to play in that atmosphere.

“We’ve got high hopes for them.

“Hopefully now they can all kick on and make that next step up.”

But Howe admits he faces a balancing act in terms of managing their progress while also bidding to end the season on a high.

The Clarets have slipped to 16th following a seven-game winless run, and looking ahead to tomorrow’s game at Fratton Park, the Clarets boss said: “We’re certainly not on our holidays.

“I want to see a spirit and a determination that we showed against West Ham.

“Our focus is definitely shifting now towards next year and looking at formations and personnel in different areas, stepping the youth players up.

“There is a certain eye on that, but we have to make sure we’re in the here and now.

“We’ve got to make sure we get the balance right.”

Striker Jay Rodriguez could miss back-to-back games for the first time this season as he struggles to shake off a groin injury, but Howe is confident the problem is not serious.

“It’s a minor niggle, but one that we have to make sure we get right,” he said. “It’s probably an over-use injury where he’s had a long, hard season, he’s played every minute of every game near enough and it’s probably one of those things that’s caught up with him.”