Last weekend’s win over in-form Wolves opened up a five-point gap above the bottom three.

And with Cardiff City, currently occupying the last ‘available’ relegation place, not playing this weekend, there is an opportunity for Burnley to extend that advantage ahead of the Bluebirds’ visit to Turf Moor next Saturday.

With Brighton playing their FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City on Saturday evening, a point at the Vitality Stadium would take Sean Dyche’s men above the Seagulls.

The Clarets went sixth in the table by winning at Bournemouth last season

Southampton – who host Liverpool on Friday night – and Newcastle United, who host Crystal Palace on Saturday, are also catchable should the Clarets make it back-to-back wins following the victory over Wolves.

But despite the permutations elsewhere, Dyche insists the focus is purely on Burnley and what they do at Bournemouth, who have been out of sorts lately under former Clarets’ boss Eddie Howe.

The Cherries – beaten 4-0 at Turf Moor last September – should have enough on the board already to extend their top-flight stay thanks to a tally of 38 points.

But Howe was disappointed with their performance in a 2-0 defeat at Leicester City last weekend and a repeat of last season’s success at Bournemouth would put the Clarets just two points behind their hosts with five games to play.

“Eddie will want to put points the board and will want his team to play well,” said Dyche.

“So do we and we’re showing very strong signs of that since the turn-around at Christmas and we have to keep doing it.

“It’s ‘broken record time’. That’s the challenge; keep performing as we have been performing.

“Twenty-one points from 13 games is strong form. We are in good shape that way, but we’ve got to carry on with those standards.”

Team news

The Clarets will be without striker Peter Crouch, who is recovering from an appendix operation.

Aaron Lennon is progressing well in training but not yet nearing a return.

Bournemouth will check on defenders Charlie Daniel (ankle) and Adam Smith (hamstring).

Former Burnley winger Junior Stanislas could be ready to start after returning from a near two-month absence as a substitute in last weekend’s defeat at Leicester City.

Form guide

The Clarets got back in the winner’s enclosure against high-flying Wolves a week ago following four straight defeats to edge closer towards Premier League safety.

A 2-1 win at Bournemouth last season came in a purple patch of six wins in eight games in the run-up towards Christmas as Sean Dyche’s men laid the foundation for their top-seven finish.

The Cherries – beaten 4-0 at Turf Moor last September – are currently 12^th in the table, but just five points better off than Burnley.

Eddie Howe’s side has won just one of their last eight games (away to bottom club Huddersfield Town) and haven’t won at the Vitality Stadium since back-to-back victories over West Ham and Chelsea at the end of January.

Following an impressive start to the season, Bournemouth have won just five league games since October as they look to guarantee a fifth successive season of top-flight football.

Opposition camp

Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe: “Last week, I think we fell below that (the standards we are capable of) and, in front of our own supporters, we can’t afford to not deliver.

“It’s very clear we have to give our absolute best, give everything to the game and hope that will be enough to get us the result.

“We’re very keen to perform tomorrow for a whole host of different reasons, the main thing being that last week we felt we were disappointed with what we delivered.

“But the lads have trained very well this week, there has been a good response to the disappointment and we’re very keen to try to put last week right.”

Match stats

Clarets' defender Ben Mee is set to make the 300th club appearance of his career by extending his ever-present record this season.

The Clarets have won three of the five Premier League meetings between the sides.

Victory would give Burnley a first double over the Cherries since 1999/2000.

Dwight McNeil is aiming to become the first teenager to score in three successive Premier League games since Romelu Lukaka in 2012/2013.

Referee

Martin Atkinson

Kick-off

Saturday 3pm

POS	Team	PL	PTS
10	MC	2	3
11	BUR	3	3
12	BRE	3	3

POS	Team	PL	PTS
10	MC	2	3
11	BUR	3	3
12	BRE	3	3

Westwood: Burnley At Our Best

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