JACK Cork has urged Burnley to show the fighting spirit that elevated them into the Premier League’s top seven, and not let their season peter out.

The midfielder is set to face former club Southampton at Turf Moor on Saturday, ending a football-free fortnight for the Clarets.

And Cork is hoping to bring and end to a run of 10 league games without a win.

Burnley have managed to retain their ‘best of the rest’ status outside the top six despite the recent blip, with five draws topping up the points tally.

But while Cork acknowledges that injuries have been a factor in their dip in form, he is keen to ensure a strong first half of the season doesn’t go to waste.

“We did really well in the first half of the season. Realistically we knew that a bad run would come at some stage, we weren’t naive enough to think that we’d go on forever,” said Cork.

“We don’t want to waste how well we did in the first half of the season though. We don’t want to let the season peter out, we want to kick on again and see how high we can go.

“It’s all about how we get out of it now and how we go back to how we were at the start of the season.

“We’ve been doing alright. We’re creating plenty of chances and we’ve been in games.

“Nobody will be down about the run that we’re on. We’re still in seventh, we’ve got to be realistic, we’re having a great season. Just because we’re on a bad run, people will talk about it because it gives them something to talk about. Realistically we’re still seventh and it’s a good season for us.

“(The manager) just wants us to get back to how we were at the start of the season. We need to fight more and believe in ourselves more.

“We had games earlier in the season where we were in similar positions (in games) and came away with a draw or a win. We just need to get that mentality back of not conceding.”

Asked what he would consider to be a good finish for the Clarets, the England international said: “The top half would be amazing. It would be great and would show how much progress we’ve made. That would be a good target for us.”

Burnley came out on top in their first meeting with Southampton this season, with Sam Vokes scoring an 81st minute winner against his hometown team in November.

And Cork, who left Saints in a £3million move to Swansea in 2015, is hopeful of bouncing back from defeat on his return to South Wales in the Clarets’ last game.

“It’s two in a row,” said the 28-year-old of back-to-back meetings against his old clubs.

“It’ll be nice to see some old faces and hopefully we can get a better result than (at Swansea).

“That could have gone either way.”

Southampton come to Turf Moor with only one win from their last 14 Premier League games, and Cork added: “They’ve been on a bad run but they had a good win the other week against West Brom. It will be a good game at home

“It’s a good club and I enjoyed it when I was down there so it will be good to see them.

“We know at home that we’re capable of getting a result against anyone so we’re looking forward to them coming and having a good game.

“We know how well we can do at home, especially with the fans behind us. We’re due a win and we’re due a couple of goals.”