Division Two: Gillingham v Burnley - Pete Oliver's big match preview

LONDONER Glen Little heads towards home tomorrow with a key role to play in licking Burnley's away form into shape.

The Wimbledon-born midfielder is always a potential match-winner for the Clarets and the trip to Gillingham has raised expectations again within the Turf Moor camp.

"It's down south and the old joke is that I always seem to play well down there," he said.

"I will have a lot of family there down there and so hopefully it will go well.

"If you look at Gillingham they have spent a bit of money and are quite a tough side but they have had a bit of a poor start, a bit like Reading where we went the other week and got a good result."

The importance of following that up isn't lost on Little as Burnley - one place above the Gills in 17th - bid for their first away win of the campaign.

He added: "I remember last season we had played seven or eight games and it was 'We'll be all right once we get going.'

"Then you get to Christmas and you are down in the bottom four and it's a long struggle from there.

"Even at this early stage you have got to pick up wins and away from home is even more important for us because of our record.

"We have had only one draw and three losses so we need to pick up a win somewhere."

Little heads for Priestfield Stadium as an integral part of the Burnley side after his career at Turf Moor changed dramatically following the club's last visit there in January.

A substitute in the 2-0 defeat, Little was used as virtually the last throw of the dice the following week against table-toppers Watford by the management team of Chris Waddle and Glenn Roeder. The result was a 2-0 victory and a run of four wins in five games which gave Waddle's side the platform to ultimately beat the drop on the final day of the season with Little arguably the oustanding performer over the closing stretch.

He recalled: "We were 1-0 down at Gillingham and there was about 20 minutes to go.

"I remember getting the call from Glenn Roeder saying I was going on. My instructions were 'Go on and get us a goal or create a goal.'

"We were on the sidelines when a corner came in and it was 2-0 so I looked at him and said 'What do I do now?' Basically he said 'Go on and do what you want!'

"It was not the best game down there and then the next week everybody knows what happened against Watford. The strange thing about last season was that if we had been top of the league all year I would probably not be at the club now.

"But because of our position and we were struggling I think it was a last resort, sort of 'We've blanked him for the past four or five months, we are bottom of the league with nothing to lose so we might as well give him a go.' Luckily it paid off."

Little has not looked back since, signing a new three-year contract in the summer and recently attracting a bid from First Division Port Vale.

Vale couldn't match his value which will continue to rise if Little can help Burnley win at places like Gillingham and help turn Stan Ternent's side into promotion candidates.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.