I DON’T normally like the international break but as Clarets we had something to feel very proud of this time around.

Michael Keane’s two appearances for England showed the wider world something we’ve known for a while – the lad is class.

I thought both performances were very solid and he certainly didn’t look out of place in either Gareth Southgate’s experimental three at the back in Germany or alongside just John Stones in the more traditional back four.

The one issue now is that the likelihood of keeping him beyond the summer has just got a whole lot slimmer, even if it looked pretty likely he’d leave before his England debut.

There was no action for Burnley skipper Tom Heaton, which was a little surprising. While it’s clear that Joe Hart is still number one, I thought Southgate might have thrown his two back-ups in for some action against the Germans in Dortmund. Tom’s time will come though, I’m sure.

Onto more pressing matters, and we’re back at the Turf – finally – on Saturday for the first of two home games in four days.

Spurs have looked pretty good this season, but with our home record we’re just the team to stop them marching on.

Harry Kane is still missing but Mauricio Pochettino’s side don’t seem to be suffering too much with Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen and others picking up the mantle.

That said, the draw against leaders Chelsea proved we can hold our own against the top stars and I don’t see Saturday being any different against the team in second.

Stoke City will provide a different test next Tuesday night, but of the two games it’s probably the more winnable.

Mark Hughes’ side have been bang average for most of the season and still find themselves in their usual mid-table position.

If we want to be safe before the end of the season, we need to be beating teams like the Potters.

The two points picked up at Hull City and Sunderland were massive and if we can get something from the Tottenham Stoke games, I think that might be us safe.

We can’t count our chickens just yet but we’re almost there.