BURNLEY player-manager Chris Waddle will ring the changes for tonight's friendly against Linfield at Windsor Park.

And Waddle today told his Burnley squad everybody will get a fair crack of the whip.

Waddle said: "I'm going to be fair to every player and basically that's how I am judging it at present.

"I am looking at each player individually and each squad member starts with a clean slate.

"There will be changes against Linfield because I want to give most players in the squad two games before we return home on Saturday.

"It will be a tough exercise tonight, but I saw some good signs on Saturday that I was pleased with.

"We coped physically and played some nice football. I want to see a further improvement tonight."

Waddle is unlikely to name himself in the side though and he explained: "The hard ground has aggravated my foot a bit and it's a bit sore.

"It's nothing serious though. Ideally I'd like to play in the remaining games in Northern Ireland. "But I'm not going to risk it if it is not right. The last thing I want to do is aggravate it and miss the chance of starting the new season. I've got my eye on playing against Glenavon on Thursday, but if I don't feature in Ireland, we've still two friendly matches before the season kicks off on August 9.

"Being on the sidelines though, gives me a chance to judge players strengths and weaknesses and I'll be interested to see how certain people adapt again tonight.

"It's another very important part of our build-up for the big game at Watford."

Former England goalkeeper Chris Woods could feature for part of the game at the Northern Ireland national stadium tonight.

Waddle added: "Chris has done well in training and, like the rest of the squad, he is raring to go.

"I sense an excellent spirit within the squad and players are responding very well. I've no complaints about their work rate and attitude. They have all impressed me in their own way."

Meanwhile, Waddle is hoping to have skipper Nigel Gleghorn fit for the start of the new Second Division campaign.

The experienced midfielder has not travelled to the Province with the Burnley party after suffering a recurrence of the knee injury which ruled him out of action for the final two months of last season.

Waddle added: "We were hoping to have Nigel over in Ireland with us.

"Wut he is making good progress at home from the injury.

"With a little bit of luck he should be up and running next week.

"And then he'll be able to force his way back into our plans."

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