BURNLEY'S trip to Cardiff was pushed back 24 hours to accommodate Wales’ Six Nations dual with France at the Millennium Stadium today.

But right back Kieran Trippier is expecting the real ruck to be at the nearby Cardiff City Stadium on Sunday.

After the Clarets sank slightly deeper into the bottom half of the Championship as a consequence of dropping two points at home to Crystal Palace last weekend, the Bluebirds had their wings clipped on Tuesday night by Hull City, who knocked them off their sixth-spot perch.

Trippier is expecting a reaction from Malky Mackay’s men, but insists Burnley have their own point to prove to make sure their top six challenge isn’t kicked into touch, after picking up only one point from their last four games.

“They will bounce back. Their manager won’t be happy about getting beat at home.

“To be in a play-off situation and lose 3-0 at home is a massive blow to them and they’ll want to bounce back against us,” said the right back.

“But we need a victory as much as they do, so it should be an exciting game.

“We need a win to set us off and hopefully we can get that tomorrow.

We haven’t been playing our best.

“I thought we deserved something out of the Palace game but Watford was a bad game to play in because we were 2-0 up and then as everyone saw they scored three against us.

“In the last three games we haven’t been playing to the standards we should have been, but I think we can turn it around soon.

“There’s no reason for (under-performing). We’ve just got to put our chances away and I think that’s what we’ve been lacking.”

To that end, Trippier admits there has been the temptation to wrap top scorer Jay Rodriguez in cotton wool, with the striker touch-and-go for tomorrow with a groin strain that forced him off at half-time on Saturday.

“He’s had his injury but he’s having treatment.

“We want Jay to be fit and carry on his goalscoring record.

“He’s scored 21 now and has been unbelievable this season.”

But with strikers Martin Paterson and Danny Ings recently returning to full fitness, along with winger Junior Stanislas, Trippier admits Burnley are well stocked in the attacking department if they do need to find a replacement.

“It would be a big blow to lose Jay, but we’ve got Pato and Ingsy ready to step up, and Junior who’s just come back from injury, to show what we can do without Jay Rod. But obviously it would be a big blow to lose him,” said the former Manchester City defender, who is relishing the chance to lay down a marker of the Clarets’ ambitions over the next three games, with Ipswich and West Ham to follow the trip to Cardiff.

And having already beaten four teams in the top six, as it stands, he feels they could use their current underdog tag to their advantage.

“It’s a challenge for us,” said the 21-year-old.

“I said at the start of the season I think we can get in the play-offs with this team. Unfortunately we’ve been on a bad spell and we need to put that right as soon as possible.

“There are lots of teams that have slipped up.

“Leicester’s expectations were to get promoted with the money they’ve spent.

“There are a few good teams that are pushing for the play-offs the same as us, and hopefully we can do it.

“If we can get three points at Cardiff what a boost that is to the lads, just to show that we can go away from home and beat the big teams.”