double mission INJURED Clarets midfielder Mark Robertson has a double incentive to get back into action before the end of the campaign.

Robertson wants to return to help Burnley stay clear of trouble and continue climbing away from the foot of the table.

And he also has an international date to look forward to.

Australia's under-23 side are due to face Japan in Hong Kong on May 14 as part of their build-up to the Sydney Olympics next year.

And Robertson will be keen to stake a further claim for a place in the Olyroos squad by facing the Japanese after his recent appearances against South Korea.

To do so, he will have to prove his fitness following a hernia operation before the Clarets end their season at Northampton on May 8.

But the signs are encouraging for the versatile Aussie who is back in light training.

Robertson admitted that the operation at the start of last month had taken it out of him.

But after starting his build-up to a comeback in the swimming pool, the 22-year-old, who has been offered a new contract by Stan Ternent, is now back on the Gawthorpe training ground to raise his hopes of finishing a season blighted by injury on a high note.

Robertson, who has another big match planned in the summer when he gets married in Australia at the start of June, has been joined on the comeback trail by Peter Swan and Kevin Henderson.

Henderson has been troubled by a groin strain, while Swan has just returned from another spell of rehabilitation at Lilleshall as he battles back from the knee injury he sustained at Wycombe nine weeks ago.

Meanwhile, Burnley boss Stan Ternent is planning to take a further look at young Everton midfielder Michael O'Brien.

The teenager, who has been training with the Clarets, was re-called by the Toffees for reserve team duty this week.

But O'Brien is expected to return to Burnley for Ternent to run another check on the player who is being released from Goodison Park in the summer.

Meanwhile, Burnley's players will have to be on their best behaviour next season to help the Clarets progress in the Auto Windscreens Shield.

That's because the competition will feature a new '10-yard' rule whereby the referee can order a free-kick to be moved closer to the opponents' goal to punish dissent and time-wasting.

The experiment has proved such a success in football played in Jersey this season, that the FA and FIFA have sanctioned its use in the cup competition for Second and Third Division clubs next season.

The Clarets will be represented in tomorrow's Football Club Challenge within the Flora London Marathon by season-ticket holder and mother-of-two Nadene Tattersall.

The Great Harwood runner was chosen from a dozen people who answered an advertisement in Burnley's match-day programme to run for the club and a charity.

Nadene, who hopes to raise around £1,500 for Cancer Research, will sport the Clarets away colours in her second marathon, and is hoping to beat the four hours, 29 minutes she clocked when completing the Dublin race last year.

One disappointment, however, is the fact that she was unable to take her regular seat in the East Stand at Turf Moor for today's visit of Bournemouth.

"I'm disappointed because I go every week but I will be listening out for the result on the way down," she said.

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