JUNIOR Stanislas is ready to make up for lost time in the first team, after scoring his first goal for the club.

The winger announced his comeback from injury by firing the opener in the reserves’ 4-0 win over Morecambe’s second string on Tuesday night.

It was the first competitive game Stanislas had started in two months, after limping out of Burnley’s Championship win at Middlesbrough with a hamstring injury.

The Clarets were on a roll at the time, having won seven out of nine games.

But the strike force suffered a double blow in the same fixture as Martin Paterson also became the victim of a hamstring injury at the Riverside, and Burnley have seen their play-off challenge falter since.

Four defeats in their last six games has left them in the bottom half of the table, nine points adrift of sixth-placed Hull City, who overtook Cardiff following Tuesday’s 3-0 win in the Welsh capital.

Burnley travel to the Cardiff City Stadium on Sunday (kick-off 3pm), and Stanislas is hoping to help the Clarets keep their season alive.

“The game’s still quite a few days away so I’m not sure if I’ll be involved yet, but hopefully I will one way or another, whether it’s starting or coming off the bench,” said the former West Ham United winger.

“I think we’ve got to go for it.

“The last few games haven’t really be good for anyone but I think we’ve got the players in the team who are capable of doing it, and the manager believes in us.

“Hopefully we can have a strong finish for the rest of the season.

“If we can do that hopefully we can get there or thereabouts.”

Stanislas’ improving form before injury led manager Eddie Howe to label him one of the club’s “unsung heroes” this season.

The 22-year-old was satisfied with the standards he hit before injury, admitting he was in the best form since signing a three-year-deal from Upton Park in August, but added: “I don’t think I’ve really hit the heights I’ve wanted to so far.

“But I’m here for a while so there should be a lot more to come.

“It was my first goal for the club (on Tuesday). Even though it wasn’t for the first team it’s still always good to score, and it was just good to get back out on the pitch playing again.

“It would be nice to get another on Sunday and progress from there.

“Hopefully it’s onwards and upwards from here.”

Of his two-month lay-off Stanislas said: “Any time off the pitch is obviously frustrating, particularly after being out for the last four months of last season.

“I just want to get back in (to the team) and play as many minutes as I can and play well, and hopefully we will have a strong finish to the season.”