ASHLEY Barnes will face his former club next weekend with words of praise ringing in his ears from current boss Sean Dyche.

The Clarets striker is in the form of his life at the moment, with his equaliser against Stoke City taking his tally to six goals in his last eight Premier League games.

It's been a purple patch for the 28-year-old, who had taken 40 top flight games to net his previous six goals and he is now just one short of hitting double figures in a Premier League campaign for the first time.

While some of his goals this season have been memorable, none more than so than the overhead kick at West Brom, his strike at Stoke showed his goalscoring instinct, reacting quickest to force the ball home after Jack Butland had saved James Tarkowski's header.

Dyche is delighted with Barnes' 'thirst and hunger' to score goals and highlighted the recent furore over Harry Kane claiming a Tottenham goal, also at Stoke, as the type of attitude you want from a striker.

“Barnesy is alive to the chance, as a striker that’s what you want. You want good goals, every striker does, but you take anything," the Clarets chief said.

"I saw Harry Kane arguing (over a goal) and people questioning that. Why would you question that? Top strikers want goals, that’s the thirst and hunger you want from your strikers, trust me.

“I think our strikers have that. Vokesy came on really active, Jon (Walters) didn’t get on, but was around it partly as a sign of respect for what he’s done for this club, and to be back in our group, and Nahki (Wells) misses out, but there’s a good collection of people here all wanting to play, all wanting to fight for what it is.

“You want that thirst from your strikers."

Barnes was Dyche's first cash signing at Turf Moor, paying Brighton £450,000 for his services midway through the first promotion campaign.

That fee has been more than repaid in goals since, with the former non-league hotshot Burnley's leading scorer in their Premier League campaigns with 20.

His recent run also included a rasping drive in the win at West Ham, as well as the fortuitous deflection from a Johann Berg Gudmundsson shot against Chelsea.

“Can you score a great goal? All strikers want to, like Barnesy at West Ham. Can you nick one like that? Just as important for us and the strikers," Dyche said.

“At the end of the season, however many they have, you’re not bothered how they got them."