Ashley Barnes on reaching 300 Burnley appearances, new squad role and achieving promotion

But that’s exactly what the 35-year-old achieved after reaching that milestone for Burnley on Tuesday night when he came off the bench during the 2-1 win against Cardiff City.

The forward, who made a surprise return to Turf Moor in January for a second spell with the club, spoke of his pride at the achievement, but insists he’s not done yet.

“When I left I had the chance to look back and think ‘wow, I did actually have an amazing time here’,” Barnes told BBC Radio Lancashire.

“What an amazing achievement, even as a young boy to have one professional career appearance, let alone 300 at one club, is something to look back on. “Hopefully we can look back on it as a family later on when that time comes and then you can really take it in.

“But at the moment, I just want to keep turning them over, keep ticking them off and see how many I can get.”

While Barnes was a regular starter during his previous stint with the club, he’s having to perform a slightly different role this time around.

The forward, whose only starts have come in the cup, finds himself behind Zian Flemming and Lyle Foster in the pecking order.

Despite that, Barnes is still playing a crucial role behind the scenes, with Scott Parker utilising his experience and know-how in a bid to help get the Clarets across the line in the fight for promotion.

“It’s completely different,” Barnes said of his new role.

“First and foremost I want to play, I want to be competing for places, but it’s one of those situations where the lads are doing so well, so I have to be patient and wait for a chance and hopefully I’ll take that chance when it comes.

“I know I’m here for a different role as well as that and that’s to help people and help us get over the line. Whatever role I can play, I’m more than happy to be involved.”

With 11 games left, Burnley find themselves right in the mix for automatic promotion, sitting just two points off Sheffield United in second.

With so much on the line, Barnes and his teammates will do whatever it takes to get back into the Premier League.

“It’s vital [we get over the line]. It means so much to everyone,” he added.

“For peoples’ livelihoods, we want to be in the best league in the world and that’s where we belong. That’s our aim.

“We’ve got to take it one game at a time. We ticked one off the other night. Yes, the last 20 or whatever was a bit sticky, but we got there in the end and it’s another one ticked off.

“Now there’s another one on Saturday and we’ve got 11 games left, so we’ll give it a good go.

“We’ve got to take it game by game, because there will be plenty of twists and turns to come over these next 11 games.”