Clarets new boy Delroy Facey has revealed he survived a date with death last season.

The Bolton striker is now fully recovered from a severe bout of pneumonia suffered shortly after his arrival at the Reebok last summer.

And born-again Facey, 23, is ready to get his career back on track at Turf Moor after finding himself on the fringes of first team football with Wanderers.

He revealed: "I caught pneumonia and almost died last year. I was so close to death and it's great just to be back playing football again.

"I had just signed for Bolton and we went to Poland, where I caught an infection up there that spread on my lungs.

"I lost around four-and-a-half stones in the space of four weeks, was in hospital for a month and was out of the game for the best part of six months.

"It knocked me back so much and when I got back into first team contention I still wasn't really up to scratch."

Former Huddersfield hitman Facey, who played alongside former Clarets legend Andy Payton early in his Terriers career, had a spell out on loan at Bradford last season as he looked to recover from the illness and build up his fitness again.

And he admitted: "Something like that gives you a different outlook on life. You take every day as it comes and all I want to do now is play football."

Meanwhile, Barry Kilby has revealed that Bolton-bound Glen Little rejected the offer a contract that would have earned him a lucrative testimonial in 2006.

Little joined the Trotters as part of the loan deal that brought Facey and Bolton team mate Gareth Farrelly to Turf Moor on Monday.

And Burnley's chairman admitted he WOULD listen to any reasonable offer from Trotters boss Sam Allardyce for Little, who cost the Clarets just £100,000 from Glentoran in 1996.

Kilby said: "Last week we offered Glen an extended contract that would have kept him here until 2006 and would have given him a benefit game for being here 10 years.

"Glen and his advisors have decided not to take that - and don't forget his contract is up at the end of this season and it's quite possible he will walk away for free.

"I would have to listen to any offer, and certainly if Bolton offer £2m for Glen, that would be have to be looked at because offloading him has less and less attraction now."