Burnley boss ready to get tough

11:00am Thursday 24th July 2008

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BURNLEY manager Owen Coyle is ready to turn up the heat on his players in the closing stages of pre-season.

The Clarets boss was pleased to sign off the tour of Scotland with a 3-1 win at his former club St Johnstone, in which Alex MacDonald scored his first goal for the club.

But while he was delighted the 18-year-old got off the mark, in the fifth of nine friendlies, there were aspects of the performance which Coyle feels demand some fine tuning in the remaining games before the season begins in earnest on August 9.

Discipline will be high on the agenda, after Martin Paterson switched from hero to villain 10 minutes into the second half.

Although he was not sent off, Coyle was forced into withdrawing the striker after he hotly disputed a throw-in, souring an evening in which he scored the opener and made the second goal for Ade Akinbiyi before the break.

“I was pleased with Martin Paterson to a point, but I gave him a rollicking because at the end of the day, whether you think decisions are right or wrong (players) certainly can’t be involved in any sort of back-chat,” said the Burnley boss.

“He’s a young kid and he wants to do his best. He’ll learn his lesson, and it’s an important lesson, so it’s probably good that it’s come in pre-season.

“I don't think, to be honest, that in a league match the referee would have sent him off – he’d have certainly given him a yellow card – so we just nipped that in the bud.”

He added: “I was pleased with the first 15 minutes when I thought we looked very slick and controlled the open play and looked a real good team.

“I was disappointed, obviously, with the goal we lost and from then I thought we lost our way a little bit if the truth be told for 10 or 15 minutes.

“But we scored a very good second goal.

“The second half was probably similar to other pre-season games; when you're making that many changes there’s not a lot of fluency.

“In terms of fitness, I was very pleased again with the levels at the end.

“But overall I know we can pass and move the ball a lot better.

“If we’d have carried on the opening 15 minutes for the 90 I’d have been thrilled.”

Coyle was, however, full of praise for teen ace MacDonald, and revealed the Warrington-born starlet could have the chance to represent Scotland Under 19s.

“His father’s Scottish and he’s still eligible for the Under 19s,” he said.

“He’s been doing very well and I made Billy Stark aware of him last year and they've been following his progress.”

The Clarets return south of the border today, with Coyle still keen to add to his troops before the start of the 2008-09 campaign.

It is unlikely, however, that Latvian striker Gatis Kalnins will remain with the club after his trial period ends tomorrow.