JOEY Barton is pushing for his first Burnley start, after admitting he had mixed feelings about his debut.

The midfielder came on in the second half of Saturday’s home game with Reading and inspired the Clarets to get back into the game with Tendayi Darikwa’s first goal for the club.

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Ultimately Burnley struggled to claw back the early 2-0 lead the Royals established in the first nine minutes and slipped to their first home defeat of the season.

The result cast a shadow on Barton’s first appearance since signing as a free transfer at the end of August - a moment the 33-year-old says came sooner than he expected after missing out on a pre-season as he waited for his next move after QPR.

But now he is determined to make amends at Rotherham on Friday night, where he is hopeful of making his first start.

“The gaffer knows I’m a player who loves to play football,” he said.

“But the team’s been doing fantastically well coming off the back of four wins and a draw at Derby before Saturday.

“And it’s not like we rolled over against a decent side in Reading, we put up a hell of a fight and were a little bit unfortunate not to nick a point at the end of the game.”

Barton has credited Burnley’s medical staff with getting him up to speed and putting him in the frame to face Rotherham.

“To be fair to the staff at the football club they’ve worked incredibly hard to get me in this position so quickly,” he said.

“They’ve totally governed it and taken control.

“They’ve got a really good sports science and medical staff here and I’ve been governed by them and they’ve managed to get me into the shape I’m in.

“I’ve still got a bit of work to do. I’m probably need a couple of extra sessions when the international break comes but that’s what I’ve got to do. I missed the whole of pre-season so I do have to play catch-up.

“I’m looking forward to it. I’m really enjoying the environment and really enjoying the football club and hopefully I can start to contribute on the pitch for the lads.”

And Barton is confident the Clarets can bounce back.

“We’ve got to pick the bones out of the game and try to move on from it as quickly as possible,” he said.

“Knowing this group and knowing the way we operate there won’t be any feeling sorry for ourselves, we’ve got to go away and analyse what we can do better.

“That’s what this group’s about and I’m really looking forward to Rotherham on Friday night now.”

Barton added that he felt the Clarets were unlucky not to continue their unbeaten run in defeat to Reading last weekend.

“On another day we would probably have equalised,” said the midfielder.

“At any level of football I think a two-goal head-start’s a comfortable cushion.

“I’m surprised because we actually didn’t play that badly.

“Reading are a good side, I think many teams will find that out over the course of the season. They will probably be a side that’s challenging for promotion certainly with the kind of investment they’ve had.

“It’s disappointing to lose at Turf Moor but there are lots of positives I think from the performance.

“Andre (Gray) was a big loss and getting him back to fitness is going to be key for us but I thought Sam Vokes was outstanding again. I think he’s really getting back to his best after that injury.”

He added: “It was nice to on and help muck in with the team. I need match games and fitness comes as a part of that.

“I’m glad to get it out of the way in terms of now being back in the picture for the first team squad, which is I think what I’m here for.

“It would have been better to cap it with a victory but hopefully my full debut will give me that.”