Tony Dewhurst reports from Northern Ireland

BURNLEY face a goalkeeping crisis for tonight's Northern Ireland friendly at Glenavon

Deputy keeper Chris Woods is almost certainly ruled out with tendonitis which could even force the ex-England man to miss the start of the new campaign. And with first choice Marlon Beresford struggling to shake off a toe injury sustained against Linfield on Tuesday, player-manager Chris Waddle could have selection problems.

Waddle said: "It's a bit of a worry for us and to be honest it would probably be 10 days to a fortnight before Chris is right.

"He's not 21 any more and these injuries take longer to shake off now for him.

"We've rested Marlon since Tuesday and hopefully he'll be okay to play tonight.

"The toe injury is very sore but he said it feels better today. We will leave it until the last minute."

Waddle - who made his Clarets debut in Tuesday's 2-1 victory over Linfield in Belfast - could feature for a second time tonight.

And he will take the opportunity to experiment with a different formation in the fixture being played at Lurgan near Portadown.

"These fixtures are extremely valuable in our build-up towards the start of the season and tonight will be another great opportunity to have a look at players again. It is a learning process at present and I'm quite pleased how things have gone so far. "I'll be looking for the same sort of performance we gave against Linfield in the second half.

"Everybody looked busy and bright and that's the way I want it to be."

Meanwhile, the Lancashire Evening Telegraph can reveal tonight that Waddle has handed David Eyres the captaincy for the remainder of the season.

Eyres was awarded the skipper's armband for the start of the pre-season tour at Ulster last weekend.

But a delighted Eyres revealed: "This has come out of the blue for me and I've got to say I am extremely proud and honoured.

"It was such a special honour when the gaffer pulled me to one side earlier this week and said I want you to captain Burnley for the rest of the season."

"I know the majority of players here very well and apart from Marlon Beresford I have been at Burnley as long as anybody.

"I know the club inside out and that's one of the main reasons I think the manager has made me the captain.

"There is a tremendous feeling of optimism about the place all of a sudden and the whole first team squad are up for the challenge in a big way.

"I suppose I am surprised in more ways than one.

"I've done the job before when people have been injured, but this is the first time I have got the captaincy in my own right. It really is a fantastic honour and to get the armband for the whole of the season is quite unbeliveable.

"The manager's arrival has filled everybody with fresh belief and I just can't wait for the season to start. To get the captain's armband from somebody like Chris Waddle makes you feel that you've got the respect of the man. It works both ways because I really respect him.

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