BURNLEY stalwart Steve Davis has revealed his delight after being appointed as the club's new first team coach.

The 37-year-old, who made over 350 appearances in three spells as a player at Turf Moor, has replaced Mark Yates, who left to become the new manager of Kidderminster Harriers last week.

He originally returned as a scout in October and manager Steve Cotterill has now rewarded Davis, who will also take charge of the reserve team, with a contract running until the summer of 2007.

"I'm absolutely chuffed to bits about it," Davis said.

"The whole scenario came as a bit of a shock on Friday when Mark left, but I'm just delighted to be given the opportunity.

"I never envisaged it happening so soon and I was thoroughly enjoying the scouting work and being involved in football, especially back at Burnley because it's always been the club closest to my heart from my playing days.

"This opportunity has come along and I'm going to take it with both hands."

Cotterill said: "Steve has joined our coaching staff to take the place of Mark.

"He will be doing exactly the same as Mark did with the first team and also taking care of the younger players in the reserve team as well."

Cotterill also revealed that he originally appointed Davis to his staff because he knew Yates had ambitions to become a manager in his own right.

"That was very much in my thoughts when I brought Steve back to the club," he added.

"I anticipated this would happen and, after having a long chat with Mark in the summer, I knew he wanted to become a manager.

"It was just a matter of when the right opportunity came along.

"To bring Steve in early on to do some scouting for us and getting to know the players and take a few warm ups was preparation for the job that he has stepped into now.

"We're delighted to have him working closely with us on a day to day basis."