Burnley comeback kid Danny Ings hopeful of turning point for Clarets (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Burnley comeback kid Danny Ings hopeful of turning point for Clarets

12:40pm Friday 16th March 2012 in Football By Suzanne Geldard, Burnley FC reporter

TARGETS Clarets striker Danny Ings (right)

COMEBACK kid Danny Ings feels Burnley’s home draw with Crystal Palace could be a turning point in the business end of their season.

The Clarets defied a run of three straight defeats to get off to a flying start against the Eagles, in what was Ings’ full debut.

They were pegged back in the second half, when Darren Ambrose cancelled out Jay Rodriguez’s early penalty, also from the spot.

But Ings was encouraged by their resolve to preserve a point, albeit against 10 men after Wilfried Zaha was sent off with around 20 minutes to go.

“In the previous games when the opposition have scored we seemed to let the floodgates open a little bit, but we stuck together as a team when they equalised, and we pushed for the win and were very unlucky,” said the 19-year-old.

“That could be the turning point and hopefully we can get some wins under our belt.

“We were disappointed we didn’t get the three points at the weekend but the way we played in parts was fantastic.

“We’ve got to take that into the next game.

“It’s not like we are going into it on the back of a bad performance, we just need to take that on and hopefully take our chances.”

From a personal point of view, Saturday was certainly a key point in Ings’ season as he started his first game since suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury almost immediately after signing from Bournemouth.

But the striker says his time out has been useful from an observation perspective.

Although it is a step up, Ings does not feel he is playing catch-up.

“Being out and being able to watch the team play for a long time. I was still learning,” he said.

“Even though I wasn’t training every day with them I was learning by watching them and picking up little things.

“At the weekend I thought I put some of that into place and things went really well.”

Of his full debut he added: “It was fantastic. My knee held up very well.

“It feels like it is starting to adapt to playing more minutes. There’s no swelling in it and the physios are very happy with how it’s reacting and things are going very well.

“The beginning of the season was very hard for me because I hadn’t played, but now I’m fit I’m hoping to get as many minutes as I can, if selected.

“Personally I want to get as many minutes as I can to start well for next season.”

But Ings is hoping to play his part in Burnley continuing their difficult fight to finish in the top six this season.

“We’ve got to give it that final push, and you never know where we are going to end up,” he said.