JOHN Mullin picked up a knock on his Pontin's League comeback last night which could make him a doubt for Burnley's trip to Oldham Athletic on Saturday.

Mullin injured a hip as the Clarets reserves beat Grimsby Town with a goal from Stephen Grant.

He was under treatment today and manager Stan Ternent remained hopeful that he might be fit for the game at Boundary Park when Burnley will be looking to extend Oldham's pointless start to the new season.

However, time may be against Mullin in his bid to return to first-team duty after a couple of games on the sidelines following toe surgery.

"John has strained a hip and we will know better how he is over the next 24 hours," Ternent confirmed.

Mullin has had bad luck on the fitness front since his summer return to Turf Moor from Sunderland with injuries limiting his impact to date.

He played just 45 minutes of the opener at Wycombe Wanderers before succumbing to a toe injury which required an operation that ruled him out of the games against Manchester City and Chesterfield.

"It's just one of those things which you can't legislate for," Ternent admitted.

Better news injury-wise came with successful returns last night for Chris Brass, Mark Robertson and Paul Weller.

Ternent added: "Paul Smith also had an hour which I was happy with because that's all I wanted and Paul Weller came through very well. "All-in-all it was okay and it was a good work-out for them."

Despite just 90 minutes of action since a hernia operation, Brass could put himself in the frame for a return to the squad at Oldham, when Burnley will be looking to extend their unbeaten League run to 14 games.

And full-back Tom Cowan confirmed that keeping that record intact is a major incentive for the players.

"What you need is a run and I can't remember when we last got beaten in the league.

"I think it was a while ago now and we keep saying that before every game.

"Before the kick-off we are saying 'right let's keep this run going'. Even if we don't win we don't get beat which is really important," he said.

Cowan admitted Burnley's first win of the season over Chesertfield last week had been effective rather than entertaining.

"If you want to be up the top or challenging up there you need to work hard and try and ground opponents down and that's what I think we did in the first 15 or 20 minutes last week," he said. And as well as winning, Cowan was delighted to be back in front-line action after being left out on the opening day of the season before coming back in the ill-fated Worthington Cup tie at Manchester City. He added: "The manager went back to three at the back with the two full-backs pushing on which brought us a bit of success near the end of last season. It's a bigger squad as well and he can bring players in and utilise them to the best of their ability.

"Obviously all the players want to play as many games as they can.

"I do. I was so disappointed at Wycombe when I went down and wasn't even on the bench. To use a football analogy I was gutted but that's the way it goes sometimes."

Rossendale Clarets have spaces available for Saturday's trip to Oldham and are also taking bookings for the Bank Holiday game at Bristol Rovers. Ring 01706 224924.

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