PHIL Bardsley has praised Burnley's travelling fans and called on the Clarets in the Karaiskakis Stadium tonight to give them an extra edge.

Bardsley and his teammates will be backed by over 1,000 fans in Athens for the Europa League play-off round first leg against Greek giants Olympiakos.

The full-back is delighted the side have been able to reward with the fans with Europe and said they appreciate the efforts made by the supporters to make the trip.

"It goes a long way with the players. It’s difficult to get direct flights to Athens from Manchester so they’ve had to all over Europe to get here," Bardsley said.

"They give us that extra edge in a game when we’re struggling, we can hear them getting behind us.

"It’s about giving them the chance to experience games in Europe, we did that by finishing seventh and now here they are in Athens and I hope we can get a result for them."