MANAGER Eddie Howe admits he never feared Burnley were a ‘one-man team’, but was pleased to see Charlie Austin prove it at Portsmouth.

Jay Rodriguez has shouldered much of the goalscoring responsibility this calendar year, netting nine of his 21 goals in his last 13 games.

But injury to the Clarets’ top scorer has switched the focus on to the rest of the club’s attacking talent. And Austin came to the fore in Saturday’s 5-1 win at Fratton Park with a career-first hat-trick, after Danny Ings had scored his first Burnley goal.

“We don’t feel we’re a one-man team,” said Howe.

“We love Jay Rodriguez and he’s such an important part of what we do.

“The last two games we’ve been without him have been a real test for us to say ‘can we live without him?’ because there may come a time when we have to.

“Against West Ham we did that and we certainly did that in the second half (on Saturday).

“We really believe in Charlie and all our strikers. It just goes to show the quality we have in that department.”

Of Austin’s 20-minute hat-trick, which increased his tally for the season to 14, Howe added: “It’s surprising it’s his first with the number of goals he’s scored. His record is second to none.”

The 22-year-old started his first full season in the Championship well, but the goals dried up after he returned from a dislocated shoulder.

Before Saturday he had only scored once since January, and lost his place in the line-up to Martin Paterson, but Howe said: “I don’t think confidence has been too much of a problem for him.

“He’s had a good season and the hat-trick will give him a huge boost. When he plays like that with aggression, his aerial ability as well is such a key point to his game. When he’s heading the ball well and is an outlet for us all the other aspects come together – I wouldn’t have wanted to play against him today put it that way.”

Austin’s goal spree could not be better timed, with Howe not expecting to have Rodriguez available for at least the next three games.

A groin problem has led to the 22-year-old three of the last four fixtures, and the Burnley boss is not expecting to have the striker available for tomorrow’s visit of Birmingham City or over Easter.

“He’s got an over-use injury. He’s played a lot of games this year. When he’s fit he plays so he’s done a lot of 90 minutes and I think he’s just fatigued in the groin area,” said Howe.

“I’m not sure we’ll see him for a couple of weeks.

“We’ve got to rest him and make sure he’s okay.

“Hopefully he will make an appearance between now and the end of the season, it’s nothing serious, it’s just a little wear and tear.”

Martin Paterson could also be facing another spell on the sidelines after going off with a suspected hamstring problem.

“We don’t know how serious it is,” said Howe. “We’ll potentially get him scanned and see.

“It’s a bitter blow for him.”

Kieran Trippier, who scored the first goal on Saturday, will be monitored ahead of tomorrow night’s game after suffering a clash of heads in the first half at Fratton Park.

“Kieran was a little bit concussed,” said Howe. “We were unsure if he’d last the second half so all credit to him for the character he showed in staying out there. We had no like-for-like replacement so we needed him.

“We shoved him back out and he did great.”

Ings also gave the Clarets a scare when he went down clutching his knee after a second-half challenge, but recovered to complete 90 minutes before going off in stoppage time.

“That seemed like a bad one from his reaction; he’s not the type to go down,” Howe added “He was on the end of two or three nasty tackles but he was up and about in the changing room.”