WITH Chris Wood's late return from international duty and the uncertainty over his fitness Sam Vokes could get a chance from the start tomorrow, and he knows he has to take it.

Competition for places in Burnley's attacking ranks is fierce but Vokes did his cause no harm before the international break, rising from the bench at Southampton to head the Clarets' winner.

Wood started at St Mary's but he only returned from World Cup play-off duty with New Zealand on Friday morning and he started neither of the All Whites games due to an ongoing struggle with a hamstring injury.

That could hand Vokes a start against Swansea, but with Ashley Barnes also pushing for a place up front and Nahki Wells and Jon Walters still to return from the treatment table, the Wales international knows opportunities have to be taken when they arrived.

Vokes hailed the current side under Sean Dyche as the strongest he's ever been a part of at Turf Moor, which puts the onus on the players to impress.

"You do wait for (your chance)," the 28-year-old said. "It’s a squad game, we know that, and we’ve got a very strong squad now, certainly the strongest since I’ve been here.

"There’s lads fighting for places every week, some are disappointed but you try and affect it when you come on.

"There’s real competition up front. Barnesy came on (at Southampton) as well and did great and he started against Newcastle, it’s a fight for places but when you get the chance you have to take it."

Vokes hasn't started a league game for Burnley since the 1-0 win over Southampton on September 10, when he partnered Wood in attack.

When Wood missed the win over Newcastle it was Barnes who was chosen to lead the line.

But Vokes could be back tomorrow and hoping to get the better of a Welsh side, having missed a penalty for the national side in a friendly with Panama earlier this week.

"It’s another big chance for us. We’ve had two big wins against Newcastle and Southampton so we’ve got to take that confidence into that game," he said.

"We’re picking up results at home and we’ll look to take it on. We’re a strong unit back at Turf and we’ll look to get some more points there."

A win would cement Burnley's position in seventh in the Premier League, but Vokes is focusing on survival first before seeing what else the Clarets can achieve this season.

"You tick that box first, that will be a great one for us, then you try and build on that," he said. "You look at the table now, we deserve to be there and we want to sustain that and try and stay up there.

"It’s great for the fans and great for us to look at."