BEN Mee believes Burnley possess one of the most feared strike forces in the Championship now that Martin Paterson and Charlie Austin are fit.

The front pair have posed manager Eddie Howe a selection headache since making themselves available for a return to action last weekend.

Paterson and Austin were forced to settle for a place on the bench in their comeback game against Portsmouth, but it is only a matter of time before the duo are pushing to start ahead of top scorer Jay Rodriguez or loan star Sam Vokes.

And defender Mee insists that kind of competition can only be good for the Clarets, who are looking for a return to winning ways at Brighton tomorrow.

“There are a lot of good strikers here now and it was nice to see them come back, especially Pato who had been out for a long while,” said the on-loan Manchester City stopper.

“It was nice to see Charlie came back as well, especially because it wasn’t as bad as we first thought.

“It benefits us massively, to have those options coming off the bench.

“The competition is good for the lads up front. There are a lot of good options and it’s probably one of the strongest strike forces in the division.”

But as Burnley bid to bounce back from a disappointing home defeat to Pompey, who snatched their first away win of the season in stoppage time, Mee is mindful of the need to tighten up at the back.

“We’re conscious of keeping clean sheets,” said the 22-year-old.

“It’s a shame we couldn’t see the game out on Saturday and we should maybe have settled for the draw in the end. We probably wouldn’t have conceded then.

“We were confident after the West Ham game, more confident than we had been in previous games so it was just a shame that we couldn’t really get going in the Portsmouth game and make it four wins from four. It was just one of those days.

“It’s really frustrating but it’s a learning process, as every game is.”

But Mee believes the back five, including goalkeeper Lee Grant, will benefit from consistency in selection, after being unchanged for the last four games - the first three of which resulted in wins.

“I think the more you play with people the more you get to know them,” he said.

“You become more comfortable with them and that will show in the results.

“We’re becoming closer as a unit and you start becoming closer to each other.

“We’ve had the same back four for a few games now, which is nice, and hopefully we can keep that going. We showed against West Ham that we can be a solid defensive unit, it’s just a shame that we conceded that late goal last time.”

On a personal note Mee is enjoying an extended run in the side, and the centre half feels he is adapting well to a less familiar left back role.

“My natural position is centre-half but the more I’ve played at left-back the more I’ve become used to it,” said the former Leicester City loanee.

“I’m naturally a defensive-minded player so the going forward bit takes a bit of getting used to. Hopefully the defensive side of things is what the manager likes and going forward will come with it.

“I hadn’t played left-back for a while before I came here, consistently anyway, but I’ve started to enjoy it and I’m a lot more confident playing there now. I feel like I’m growing in to the role, but I’d be happy to play anywhere.”

Mee, who up until last month’s win at Hull had been in and out of the squad following a minor knock in September, added: “I’m enjoying playing, it’s definitely better than being out of the team. You start to doubt yourself and a bit of confidence goes but it’s one of those things.

“You’ve just got to push to get yourself back in to the team and when you do you’ve got to try and stay there.”

Meanwhile, captain Chris McCann is set to make his 200th appearance for Burnley tomorrow. Should Paterson feature it will be his 100th game for the Clarets.