Andros Townsend admits he was disappointed not to sign for Burnley following a trial period during pre-season.

The former England international impressed against Benfica and was set to sign a contract at Turf Moor.

However, the club decided to go in a different direction and Townsend is now searching for a new opportunity.

“At the end of June, I was invited to go and train at Burnley to keep fit and get going,” he told talkSPORT.

“They realised I’ve still got what it takes so the manager pulled me in his office and said ‘We are interested, we are going to take you on tour to Portugal and see you against high level opposition’.

“I went to Portugal and played a couple of games. I played very well against Benfica and got 90 minutes. The next day, I was offered a one-year deal.”

Townsend is a free agent after his deal at Everton expired over the summer. The experienced wideman missed last season due to a knee injury.

“I got back to England and went for a medical straight away,” he continued. “I passed the medical and thought, ‘I am ready to sign’.

“As I’m in the shower getting ready to see the chief executive because the contract was almost ready, somebody from the coaching staff says, ‘the manager wants to see you in his office whenever you’re done’.

“I got ready, got dressed and went to see the manager. For one reason or another, the contract was no longer on the table for reasons I didn’t understand.

“It’s recently come out in the press conference that the manager said other options they were looking at had become available and injuries they had in the building had come back sooner than they thought.

“It’s a decision I didn’t agree with, but that’s life. We shook hands, hugged it out, went our separate ways and now I’m here looking for another opportunity.”