TYRONE Mears turned down the chance to help Burnley win promotion back to the Premier League this season, preferring instead to take the more direct route with a move to Bolton Wanderers.

But the former Clarets right back has tipped his old club for the top without him.

Burnley are one of the form teams in the Championship, boasting a run of seven wins from nine league games.

Today’s opponents Derby County, another of Mears’ old teams, have six wins from eight in all competitions, including five on the bounce.

Both have designs on a top six finish this season. But Mears believes the Clarets can win the battle of wills - this afternoon and beyond.

“Burnley are doing really well and have really picked up,” said the 28-year-old, who was reunited with Owen Coyle, at the Reebok, in the summer two years after becoming an Owen Coyle signing in preparation for Burnley’s Premier League season.

“They are my favourites to get into the play-offs now.

“Eddie Howe and Jason Tindall are doing a great job. I rate them highly.

“They are very young but I don’t think it’s an issue. At the end of the day they are manager and assistant. They have both been players, which I guess can help, but the big thing is Eddie’s ideas on the training ground - the preparations, looking after players, bringing John (Dalzell) the fitness coach in. He’s brilliant.

“I’m sure Eddie will go on to big things in his career.

“Up to now it’s just been a case of getting players accustomed, but he has done things his way and he is getting the best out of his players, which is the main thing.”

As a former Manchester City player, Mears has a keen interest in the progress of Kieran Trippier and Ben Mee, who have both just made their loan moves from the Etihad Stadium to Turf Moor permanent.

“Eddie wants young, hungry players at the club - that’s his way of thinking - and they fall into that category,” he said.

“Players at a big club can find it difficult, so it’s a great move for both of them.

“I saw Ben in pre-season and was impressed with him. I’ve not had the chance to see Kieran yet, but Dedryck Boyata’s on loan with us from Manchester City and he rates both of them.”

Fans feared finding a replacement for Mears in the summer, but he knows Trippier has filled the void.

“Kieran has scored a few goals and gets up and down the right. It’s good for the club to have exciting young players,” said Mears, who admitted his Turf Moor exit was sad, but inevitable, following relegation from the Premier League - just like it was when he left relegated Derby County in 2008.

A loan move to Marseille was engineered against Paul Jewell’s wishes, although he insists reports of him crawling underneath a window to avoid the former Rams’ boss on his way out of Pride Park were fabricated.

“I think there was a lot put in the press which was wrong at the time of me leaving,” he said.

“I was there on loan (in 2007) and gained promotion with them. Playing at Wembley was a fantastic occasion and I enjoyed that time under Billy Davies.

“It’s a good club with good facilities, a good stadium and fanbase.

“But they were relegated and I didn’t want to play in the Championship.

“It was really about finding a new club.

“With the move to Marseille, the way it came about was wrong, but when you have a chance to move to a Champions League club you can’t turn it down.

“It was the same when I came to Burnley, moving to a Premier League team at the time.

“Every player wants to play in the Premier League, so when we were relegated it was difficult.”

There were periods when they thought they would upset the pundits, but Mears admitted they found it hard to cope with a mid-season managerial change, when Coyle quit to join Bolton and Brian Laws came in.

“We were written off, as teams that are promoted always are, but the first half of the season was really good,” he recalled.

“We had 20 points and everyone kind of acknowledged the good football we were playing as well.

“When the manager left it got to the players a little bit because we were used to the way Owen Coyle went about it in training every day.

“He was very enthusiastic - that’s not to say that other managers weren’t, but in a different way. His love for the game shows every minute of the day you are with him.

“In training he tries to make it as fun as possible, believing that when players are enjoying training and the way they play they take that into the game.

“I think Brian Laws tried to get through the second half of the season without changing too much.

“It was difficult for him coming into it, but I don’t think he really stamped his authority on the job.

“He gave it his best shot and the players tried their best, but it wasn’t enough to stay in the league.”

And Mears admitted the downward spiral was hard to shake the following season, back in the Championship.

“I think there’s always a hangover. Most teams who are relegated find it difficult to bounce straight back up again. It’s a different league completely,” added Mears, who admitted he would have left at the end of his first season if the opportunity had arisen.

“If the right move was there for the Premier League I would have wanted to move back there, but it wasn’t, and the club didn’t want to let me go.

“I had to get my head down and look to try to get promoted.

“It was a frustrating season because we battered teams in some games, and against teams we were expected to beat we didn’t pick up results.

“We did get better when Eddie came in, but we just missed out in the end.”

Conscious that time was no longer on his side, Mears jumped at the chance of another shot at the top flight.

“Obviously it’s sad when you leave because you do gain a lot of friends, both on the playing staff and the people behind the scenes.

“But when you get the opportunity to play in the Premier League it’s not really a hard decision.

“That was the main thing when we were relegated.

“I spoke to the manager and the people there and the priority was to go straight up again. But it was a bit of a frustrating season.”

Mears has endured different frustrations this season, after suffering a broken leg in training just days after he and Chris Eagles signed for Bolton in a joint move.

He is closing in on a comeback.

He hopes Burnley can stage a Premier League comeback of their own.