Vokes hoping to grab first Burnley goal

The 22-year-old, who completed a £350,000 switch from Wolves at the end of July, made nine appearances for the Clarets last term scoring in consecutive games against Ipswich Town and West Ham before joining fellow Championship side Brighton on loan.

But in his nine outings since making that summer move, the Wales international hasn’t been able to break his duck despite knocking relentlessly on the door.

“I’m desperate to get my first goal, as is always the case at a new club,” he said. “Hopefully it will come soon. I had my header saved against Swindon but I’ll just keep knocking on the door. I just want to get that first goal, get it ticked off and then take it from there When you get the first one they all come after, it’s just getting that first that’s important.”

Vokes believes he can only benefit from playing alongside the country’s most prolific marksman, Charlie Austin, who has already hit double figures, but admits the service is there from other areas of the pitch as well.

“I’ve got a fantastic team around me,” said Vokes. “We’ve got Tripps delivering from deep and some good wide players so the service is there. You see it in Charlie’s play at the moment - he’s scoring goals for fun.

“He’s playing well every time he turns out so for a striker you need the goals to lift your confidence. We both work closely together on the training ground and always have competitions as strikers so it’s good.”

Vokes, who made his professional debut alongside Clarets boss Eddie Howe at Bournemouth four years ago, is now gearing his attention towards netting against Millwall tomorrow, while at the same time hoping the squad don’t dwell too much on the midweek Capital One Cup exit to Swindon Town.

“We don’t want to get side-tracked from the result against Swindon,” he said. “We need to take the Derby performance in to Saturday and show the same spirit. In this league momentum is important.

“If you get a couple of wins together then you jump up. We’ve got two home games which gives us the chance to get those points. I think we’ve made progress. If we can make home advantage count for the next two games and get six points it will be massive for us.”

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