Lafferty happy at title contenders Burnley

Northern Ireland international Daniel Lafferty is hoping to play his part in Burnleys push to get into the Premier League.

The 24-year-old who has forced his way back into the Clarets side after missing for parts of this season, now wants to make sure he stays in the starting line-up.

“I have got myself back in the team and have played the majority of the games since Boxing Day,” stated Lafferty.

“I played in the FA Cup tie at Southampton and apart from the Huddersfield game where I came off the bench I have got more 90 minutes under my belt, which has helped me because I’m starting to get my match sharpness back with the more games I’m playing on a regular basis.

“I have had a few decent performances and we have had a few good results but I know that I have to keep working hard and playing well to ensure that I stay in the manager’s plans.”

Last weekend Sean Dyche’s side moved into second spot in the Sky Bet Championship table sitting four points behind leaders Leicester City following a 2-1 win at lowly Yeovil Town.

But as the ex-Derry City man points out big spending QPR are breathing heavily right behind in the table, so they can’t afford any slips if they harbour hopes of securing an automatic promotion spot to the money spinning Barclays Premier League.

“I think a lot of people at the start of the season probably thought that we wouldn’t be up there challenging, but we are now nearly half-way through and we are still up there,” added Lafferty.

“But there are still a lot more games to play and we won’t be taking anything for granted the Championship is always a competitive league and you can see at the minute how tight things are at both ends of the table.

“QPR are right behind us, while the likes of Derby County and Nottingham Forest are also flying at the minute, so we have to keep going and take each game as it comes.”

The former Celtic starlet, who spend four years with the Parkhead out-fit, returned home in 2010 and signed for Stephen Kenny’s Derry City side which went on to claim the First Division title.

Then doing when he was doing well in the League of Ireland Premier Division, Lafferty got his move to Burnley after impressive the then boss Eddie Howe.

There was more good forunate for the left-back when former Shamrock Rovers manager Michael O’Neill was appointed Northern Ireland boss and he had no hestiation in selecting him for his international squad.