RELIEVED Tony Grant has vowed to help steer Burnley to safety after getting the green light to return to action.

The Clarets received the news they were hoping for last night when Grant was told the cartilage damage in his right knee was not as bad as first feared.

Ironically, the good news came as Burnley dropped into the relegation zone for the first time since August following Derby's 1-1 draw at Sheffield United.

But Grant, who suffered the setback a week ago at Nottingham Forest, is now determined to play through the pain barrier to help the club survive in Division One.

He said: "When it first happened I thought it was quite serious and that my season was over.

"But over the past few days the knee has settled down well and now it looks like I've dislodged some of the cartilage, rather than torn it.

"I went to see a surgeon yesterday and he checked me over and said 'just try it'. I've trained a bit since and it felt okay, so I should be fine.

"There's still a chance it could need an operation to cure the problem long term, but hopefully I can put that off for now and keep playing as long as possible.

"It's imperative that we stay in this division and I want to carry on until that's done and dusted because we will need everyone in the next few weeks."

Burnley's first chance to climb back out of the drop zone comes in Saturday's massive Roses clash with Bradford at Valley Parade.

The Clarets now have a game in hand on five of their closest relegation rivals following Saturday's postponed home game with Wimbledon, since rearranged for late April.

And Grant admitted: "Bradford is a massive game now, especially with last weekend's game being off and Derby getting a point last night.

"But we still have a game in hand and it's all about us getting the results.

"Bradford will be thinking this is maybe their last chance to get back in the pack, so they will be fired up for it.

"Then it's Norwich at home and so far this season we seem to have done well against the better teams.

"We haven't done that well against some of the strugglers and we know we need to rectify that because most of our remaining games are against the bottom sides."

Grant, who has been in sparkling form in recent months, insisted: "I still can't believe we are in this position the way we've been playing since the turn of the year.

"But nobody at this club is thinking the worst and contemplating relegation.

"If you look at the table, everyone below Crewe is still involved because no-one has put any consistency together.

"It's a bit of a dog-fight and a win at Bradford would be a real boost."