EDDIE Howe believes the future of Burnley is bright, anticipating that the signings he has made since arriving at Turf Moor will start to fulfil their potential next season.

Charlie Austin has already lived up to his Championship test – scoring 17 goals so far in his first full campaign at this level, despite injury.

Striker Danny Ings has also slotted in well in Jay Rodriguez’s recent absence, after the cruciate knee ligament damage he suffered in his first week with the club meant he got off to a false start.

But Howe is already looking forward to what they have got to offer in the 2012/13 campaign, believing there is more to come from his young intake, including former West Ham winger Junior Stanislas, and Irish defender Daniel Lafferty, who returned to the line-up in the goalless draw at Leicester on Tuesday after a hamstring problem.

“He’s had to be patient, fitness wise more than anything,” said Howe of 23-year-old Lafferty, who he signed from Derry City in January.

“We’ve had to build him up.

“He had the hamstring strain which was a real blow for him, but we’ve done a lot of work with him and his attitude has been spot on.

“That’s his third away game – all at really tough places.

“I thought Tuesday night was his best performance. Hopefully it will be the start of a good run for him because we do like him, he’s got a lovely left foot, and he did really well defensively.

“He looked a lot more composed.

“We have to remember he’s a young player and it’s a big step up in level.

“We feel we won’t see the best of him until we do a full pre-season with him.

“But this experience will be great for next year.

“We still don’t feel he’s 100 per cent ready to play at the moment, but he’s come in and we’ve done a lot of work with him and built him up fitness wise and coaching wise because it is a big step up in level.”

Stanislas has shown flashes of form since making the move from Upton Park in August. Howe has been particularly impressed by the 22-year-old’s recent performances, which he believes have warranted scoring his first goal for the club.

But the Burnley boss opted to take the former England Under 21 out of the firing line midway through the second half at Leicester, spending a moment on the touchline afterwards with an encouraging arm around Stanislas’ shoulder.

“Junior’s a great lad, really wants to do well and is very self-critical,” Howe explained.

“He was a little bit disappointed with his own performance in the second half.

“I said ‘look, we’re a team and we’re happy with you and you’re only going to get better’.

“It was just basically to give him a little boost of confidence because we think he can be a real top player for us.

“He could be the difference between winning and losing games. He’s a potential matchwinner.

“I still don’t think we’ve seen the very best of him this season, but he’s certainly going in the right direction.”