BURNLEY'S Tom Heaton is keen for the Clarets to make Turf Moor a fortress once again.

The goalkeeper highlights how recent rises in performances have given the Burnley fans reason to be positive during the Christmas fixtures.

Heaton, who has lost his place in the side since a shoulder injury last season, talks about how the Burnley players enjoy spreading the festive cheer when visiting children in local hospitals.

"We want to make it a real fortress again at Turf Moor," Heaton adds.

"That’s where you want to build your foundation, we’ve obviously just had a good win there against Brighton."

Burnley's last two home games have seen them lose 3-1 to Liverpool and beat Brighton 1-0. The performance in the Liverpool game gave the fans reason to be optimistic due to a much improved display.

"We’re feeling good, on the back of the Brighton home game, which was an excellent win with a good clean sheet," the 32-year-old added.

"I think you can see there’s been a change in performance over the last few games, I think the fans have seen that.

"You can feel the support behind that again and that’ll be important at home games where that’s really going to tell.

"I thought with the change of formation for the Tottenham game we were unlucky not to come away with a fantastic point.

"There are massive positives to be taken from that game, obviously it was a blow to lose it in the end, but I think going in to another tough away fixture we can take a lot from that game.

Members of the Burnley squad visited the East Lancs Children and Adolescents Ward at Burnley General Hospital on Tuesday and Heaton was happy to spread the festive cheer.

"It’s really nice to sort of be involved in it, especially with it being the local Burnley hospital, we all get down to see the staff, the people who’re in here and just try to bring that Christmas spirit really," Heaton said.

"Obviously, it’s never great seeing anyone in hospital never mind kids of this age. If we can spread a bit of cheer then, from our point of view, it’s a brilliant job and the whole thing is just a great idea.

"It’s really good to see, sometimes as a footballer it’s difficult to see how much it means, especially to local fans and people involved in the town so it’s a reminder of that from our point of view.

"Every year we love coming down hear and making an impact on some people, we get amongst it and amongst the kids, we love it. As I say, it’s good all round," the goalkeeper finished.

The Burnley club captain has been linked to a move away from Turf Moor after seeing his playing time extremely limited following the arrival of Joe Hart and Heaton's shoulder dislocation last season.

Heaton has recently featured in some under 23s games as he looks to regain match sharpness before a probable move in January.