BURNLEY boss Stan Ternent has swooped to solve his defensive inadequacies by signing Shakers stars Peter Swan and Gordon Armstrong.

The duo move over to Turf Moor for an undisclosed fee, believed to be worth over £40,000 to the Gigg Lane club.

While transfer-listed Swan's capture comes as no surprise the decision to let utility man Armstrong to go to the crisis-torn Clarets will come as something of a shock to Shakers' fans.

It's the former Sunderland skipper's desire for a first team place that made his mind up to leave and it was a reluctant Shakers chief Neil Warnock that agreed to him going.

"Burnley came in for them both and though I told Gordon that he didn't have to go I'd promised to keep him informed if anyone came in for him.

"I'll be sorry to see him go he's a super lad to have around the club but I won't stand in the way of anyone who wants to leave.

"He wanted first team football and would have got it from us eventually but some players are a little impatient."

Former Bury manager Ternent had to move quickly to shore up his back line after publicly announcing that his three central defenders Lee Howey, Steve Blatherwick and Mark Winstanley, along with midfielder Michael Williams, wouldn't play for the club again following last Saturday's dismal 1-0 home defeat by York.

Ternent knows all about the attributes of Swan and Armstrong having previously signed both during his time at Gigg Lane and they are likely to go straight into the heart of the Burnley defence for tomorrow's clash at Walsall. Warnock won't let the grass grow under his feet in finding replacements for the duo and was close to making one signing in midweek.

The Shakers make a trip to the capital tomorrow to take on QPR hoping for a repeat of the 1-0 victory on the final day of last season that preserved their First Division status.

"That must have been a memorable day but it'll be a different ball game tomorrow and we'll be looking to continue our good start to the season," said Warnock.

"It'll be tough, they're a quality side and in Sheron have a player who is probably worth than all our club put together.

"I just hope the fans who are going down will get behind us like they did at Ipswich and appreciate what we are up against every week."

The QPR clash is followed by the return of former boss Mike Walsh who is assistant manager to Steve McMahon at Swindon Town. Kick-off in the Bank Holiday Monday showdown is 3pm.

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