ASHLEY Barnes still harbours international ambitions with England, despite Austria coach Franco Foda watching the Burnley striker in the weekend win over Spurs.

Foda was in the stands at Turf Moor to see Barnes tap home a late winner to secure the Clarets a 2-1 success over Tottenham Hotspur which extended their unbeaten Premier League run to eight games and leaves Sean Dyche's side six points clear of the bottom three.

Barnes, who qualifies for Austria via his grandmother, played for the nation's Under-20s against Switzerland in 2008 but can still represent England at senior level.

And with Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate also watching Burnley against Spurs, does Barnes feel he could sneak into the next England squad?

“Definitely. I have every faith in my ability," said the 29-year-old. "If that happened, then I’d have to make a choice and I’d have to choose wisely. But first and foremost I need to concentrate on Burnley."

Asked if he could provide a unique option to the England squad, Barnes added: “I think I bring something completely different to the whole squad. But that decision isn’t down to me. I’m a Marmite kind of player, you either love me or hate me. That does not bother me. I know my own ability and how good I am.”

Barnes would seem an attractive proposition for an Austrian team who scored just three goals in four games in the Nations League campaign and missed out on a place at the World Cup last summer.

Foda's side have European Championship qualifiers against Poland and Israel next month but Barnes has not yet had a conversation with the Austrian Football Association over a potential call-up.

He added: "No. I haven’t. I am eligible for Austria, so what will be, will be.

“It would be something I’d like to do. I’d like to have a chat and see what happens.

“It may be a bit strange playing for Austria because I was born here, but I’m eligible through my gran and what will be, will be. I just need to keep working hard and do my talking on the pitch.”

“First and foremost is to keep Burnley in the Premier League. That’s my aim. What will be, will be. We will see what happens in the future.”

The Clarets are back in action at Newcastle United on Tuesday night aiming to maintain the momentum they have built up since a Boxing Day defeat to Everton.

Burnley have taken 18 points from eight league games since that 5-1 reverse and Barnes is keen to keep the run going.

“It’s an amazing achievement," he said of the Clarets' recent form. "We just need to keep going and we have another cup final game on Tuesday against Newcastle and if we can get another three points there, it will look a lot better.”

The victory over Spurs was Burnley's first over a 'top six' Premier League side since the win at Chelsea on the opening day of last season and Barnes, who scored his ninth of the season and fourth in his last four games when netting the late winner, added: "(It was) a massive result. A huge, huge result for the team and we needed that.

“They (Spurs) are unbelievable with the squad they’ve got so for us to go out there and put in a performance like that was remarkable.

“It was about the whole team. We fought for everything. We left everything out on the pitch and that’s what we needed to do.”