CLARETS striker Dimitri Papadopoulos played the full match for Greece Under-21s as they lost 2-1 to Belgium in their opening European Championship game in Switzerland last night.

Now his club manager Stan Ternent is hoping that he will be able to play a fuller role for Burnley next season.

Papadopoulos came to Ternent's attention when he was on international duty but he admitted it had been a frustrating season for him.

"After this tournament we are hoping that we can get him settled in a bit more," he said about the 20-year-old striker who cost £500,000 last summer.

He always insisted that Papadopoulos was bought with the future in mind and the player made just one start and seven appearances from the bench in his first season at Turf Moor.

"When I signed him I knew he was going to be away an awful lot last season, if not on Under-21 duty then for training camps and as part of the Olympic team. He also had to be away for various drug tests and it meant he was missing from training a lot.

"But I am sure that he will benefit from the experience and we expect to be able to use him more next season."

Papadopoulos went close to scoring just after half time last night when he had a shot saved by the Belgian keeper.

And his side, that has a good record at Under-21 level, played a lot of attractive football.

But their only reward came in stoppage time when they were already trailing 2-0 and it was not enough to save them from defeat.

He will hope to be back in action on Sunday night when they play their second match in a group that also includes France and the Czech Republic.

Ternent admitted: "We are not having him watched out there because we have seen him plenty of times at that level and we know what he can do."

England Under-21s will play their first game tonight when they take on host nation Switzerland in Zurich.

Meanwhile the Burnley boss is very happy that Nik Michopoulos has won two more full caps over the past week.

"I'm delighted for him, it's good for him and it's good for Burnley," said Ternent. "He played the second half in both games and it sounds like he did well."