DAVID Nugent believes Burnley need four more home wins if they are to survive in the Premier League and secure his own top-flight future.

The Clarets host West Ham United tomorrow, kick-off 3pm, in the first of five crucial home games against bottom half sides in the next two months.

With Portsmouth, Stoke, Wolves and Blackburn Rovers scheduled to visit Turf Moor before Burnley end the season with trickier matches against Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham, Nugent knows the Clarets have to start getting back to winning ways.

Burnley are now without a victory in 12 Premier League matches and have not won at Turf Moor since October 31, having previously won five of their first six home games.

New boss Brian Laws has also suffered four straight defeats in all competitions since taking over from Owen Coyle last month.

“We need four home wins,” said Nugent, who returns to the Burnley squad this weekend after his loan from Portsmouth was finally extended until the end of the season.

“If we do that and get a few points away, that should keep us up.

“It’s important for the players and staff to get that first win (under Brian Laws). The lads are all looking forward to the West Ham game.

“We know it’s a game we’ve got to win. It is the teams around us we have to win against.

“It has been a long time since we won a game. We started well but the results are starting to catch up with us now.”

Nugent is determined to secure a permanent move away from Portsmouth in the summer and knows that his chances of remaining at Turf Moor in the summer will be helped greatly by Burnley staying in the Premier League, with both wages and a transfer fee likely to be an issue if the Clarets returned to the Championship.

Both his loan and parent club are in relegation trouble at the moment but the 24-year-old has insisted that Burnley remain his first-choice summer destination, despite the likelihood that he will be linked with a move to join up with former boss Coyle at Bolton.

“I am a Burnley player and I really enjoy it here,” he said.

“The lads here are different class and the new gaffer has come in and changed a few things.

“I am here to the end of the season and I’m in the shop window and want to do well.

“I will try my best to keep up us and secure my future.

“I want a permanent move so I have to play to my best ability and score goals to try and get something sorted out.”

Nugent endured a torrid week as confusion over the precise end date of his initial loan meant he returned to Portsmouth by mistake last Monday - a day before playing for Burnley at Bolton - and had to travel to Fratton Park again later in the week.

Pompey are still paying half of his wages as part of the loan deal and Nugent admits he is concerned he could be affected if their financial plight worsens.

“It is bit scary what is going on down there, especially with the lads not getting paid a lot of the time,” he said.

“It’s a relief to be back here. There was a lot of confusion. I have been back and forth on the motorways quite a lot.

“I went there the day after the Reading game and trained, then I got a phone call and was told to come back up for the Bolton game.

“After the Bolton game my loan was up so I went back into training on the Thursday and they told me I couldn’t train because the loan had been agreed.

"I went back to Burnley and nothing had been agreed.

“It has been messing with my head. I am getting a little bit sick of the M6. It is a four-hour drive down to Portsmouth and I have done it four times in the last fortnight.

“My deal is done with Burnley paying half of my wages.

"I think Burnley pay Portsmouth and Portsmouth pay me, so you just have to get on with it.

“I had little chat to Avram Grant (the new Portsmouth boss) and said all I wanted was to go back to Burnley.

"He was happy with that.”