BEN Mee is determined to hang on to his shirt for the rest of the season after returning to the Clarets side following Stephen Ward’s injury.

The left-back was dropped from the side after the 3-1 loss to West Ham at Turf Moor on October 18 and was replaced by Republic of Ireland international Ward.

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But Ward suffered a fractured ankle during the 1-1 draw with Newcastle and former Manchester City trainee Mee is back in the side - and he is determined to stay there.

He lasted 74 minutes of the weekend win over Southampton having struggled with illness the day before the game.

Mee was determined to play though and he wants to take every chance he can to prove boss Sean Dyche wrong for dropping him in the first place.

“I got my chance and I want to stay in the team for the rest of the season,” he said. “I’m going to do my utmost to do that.

“The gaffer changed it for a reason so I’ve got to prove him wrong and show him that I want to be in the team. I hope I did that.

“I was a bit ill on Friday and I missed training so I was feeling a bit under the weather before the game.

“I was a bit exhausted towards the end of the game and didn’t have much energy left. The gaffer felt it was right to bring me off.”

Mee didn’t appear to be struggling in the first half, sticking tight to Dusan Tadic, Southampton’s winger.

The 25-year-old left-back was strong in the challenge against the Serbian international and was part of a back four that protected Tom Heaton well during the game.

The goalkeeper was called upon to stop Tadic’s penalty but other than that is was an uneventful afternoon for Heaton.

“It’s what I like to do to keep the winger at bay so it was good,” Mee said. “He took the penalty so I’m glad he didn’t score. It was great to keep him quiet; the lads at the back kept everyone quiet.”

“It’s a great win and they’re obviously a really good side so to get that win boosts us going into that Christmas period.

“The boys at the back were awesome. The two centre halves were brilliant and kept their strikers quiet. I thought they were excellent but the whole team was brilliant.”