Clarke Carlisle in line for Burnley FC return after completing suspension

BURNLEY aim for a place in the Carling Cup quarter-finals tomorrow night, as they look to upset Aston Villa at Villa Park.

And Brian Laws feels the game represents the perfect chance to shake off the after-effects of the 4-0 reverse at home to Reading on Saturday.

The Clarets had the best home record in the Championship, but saw it dismantled by a well-organised Royals, aided and abetted by a bizarre refereeing performance from Nigel Miller.

Laws said: “We’ve got to move on.

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“You can’t ask for a better game than Aston Villa away in the cup and hopefully we can dust Saturday’s performance off.

“It will be another stern test and we’ll obviously have to improve our performance against Aston Villa to get anything out of it.

“But the one thing Burnley Football Club is famous for, particularly over the last few seasons, is a good cup run and to get results when least expected.

“Let’s hope we can do that against Aston Villa.

“It won’t be easy, but hopefully we can bounce back with a good performance there, get a good result and set us up for our away games now.

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“If we don’t take the points at home we’ve definitely got to take them away from home.”

Laws’ side have yet to win away in the league, although they knocked Morecambe out of the Carling Cup at the Globe Arena to earn a shot a former manager Owen Coyle and his Bolton side.

The unbeaten home record has now gone, and that means results must improve away from Turf Moor: “We’ve lost our record, but things have to be broken at some stage.

“We’ve got to bounce back, there’s no question about it, and hopefully it’s a blip.

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“If you’re going to lose your home record then lose it in a manner in which the opposition have earned it and your performance has still been good.

“It was poor. I can’t disguise that. It’s probably as poor a performance as we’ve had all season. We’ve had some excellent performances.

“We’re disappointed because we wanted to keep the record going obviously, but we’re just going to have to start another.”

Leon Cort is suspended at Villa after his dismissal against Reading - the first of his career.

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But with Michael Duff fit and available and Clarke Carlisle returning froma three-match ban, Laws has options to take on Gerard Houllier’s men: “Anyone who drops out of this side I have another one knocking on the door.

“I might have six or seven players knocking on my door after Saturday!

“Clarke Carlisle will be back and he’s probably been missed, I’ve got to say, with his organisation.

“He’s vocal on the park.

“At least his suspension’s now over and that’s the positive we’ll take out of this weekend.”

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Villa, meanwhile, are expected to be without captain Stiliyan Petrov, who suffered a knee injury in the 1-0 defeat at Sunderland on Saturday.

The Bulgarian was forced off shortly before half-time at the Stadium of Light, and Houllier is concerned the former Celtic man has damaged lateral ligaments in his left knee: “Maybe two or three weeks, if it is grade one. If it’s grade two or three, it could be a while.”