THERE'S nothing better than having competition for places, and for once that's a situation Burnley are in.

We started last season with barely a team. Now, the squad is much bigger, and there's a headache for Steve Cotterill on who to leave out.

But that's a good dilemma to be in.

A bigger squad is much healthier for the manager and the football club.

In all departments, players will be fighting for places.

For me, tomorrow's game against Bolton at Turf Moor will be the first time I'll see the new players.

I'm looking forward to having a close look at Andy Gray and Steve Jones.

It looks like they will be first-choice strikers, but others like Kyle Lafferty will be breathing down their necks for an opportunity.

It's very important the front two strike a partnership and bring the best out of each other. It's up to them to read each other's game.

I'm sure Jones and Gray are already working on that in training.

It's all the better if they work well together because it will lead to them setting each other up for chances.

Lafferty will wait patiently for his chance. I've known Kyle since he came to Burnley and so I've watched him grow up.

There's a great possibility of him making a name for himself at Burnley.

He's still a young lad, but he's shown that he can play at this level.

He's got the physique and the height, so he'll win his fair share of the ball upstairs.

Kyle's all-round game is very, very good. At this stage, he is ideal as back-up to the main two strikers.

He's good enough to come into games if one of the other lads are injured or out of form.

If he can force himself into the reckoning, that would be great for him.

It is the same for Chris McCann in midfield. I like him - he's another young lad whose had a good season.

He did himself no harm and we'll see a lot more from him next year.

He's a great prospect and has a great shot on him.

We did not see a lot of it from Chris last year, but once or twice he let it go and there's real zip in his shot.

It's paramount the midfield chip in with plenty of goals this season and there are players capable of pinging shots from outside the box.

In defence, Jon Harley is a capable left-back and his position is assured.

It's going to be a problem for Steve to pick his two central defenders and get a partnership going.

But it's going to be a battle for places and I imagine the one player left out will shift to right-back.

The sooner Danny Coyne is fit the better. Obviously, it's taking him a little longer to come back fit from injury and the club are letting him take his time - which is wise.