Hucks could return to left side

Darren Huckerby could be deployed in his favoured left flank role at Burnley tonight - but Jim Duffy says he isn't about trade the City star's preferences for the sake of the team.

Huckerby began on the right wing against Bristol City on Saturday and it wasn't until Lee Croft came on as a 67th-minute sub that he was switched to the left.

It was a switch City fans - and most likely Huckerby too - had been crying out for, but Duffy was refusing to show his hand yesterday ahead of tonight's crucial encounter at Turf Moor.

“I'm not really concerned whether Darren was happy or not,” said Duffy. “It's about the team and the team balance that's important.

“I think he did well on the right hand side when he got the ball, but he didn't get enough of the ball. But wide players get really frustrated because they don't get enough of the ball and that's the reason why wide players drift in.

“It's up to the players to get the ball to Darren. As I've said before he's a very talented player, but you have to get the ball to him and we didn't really do that often enough whether he was on the right or the left. But I'm not really concerned whether he enjoyed it - his job is to do the best he can for the team.”

While there was no suggestion Huckerby was unhappy with his role on Saturday, the change proved fruitful to some extent as he managed to end City's 10½-hour goal drought by cutting in from the left for a late equaliser.

“When I named the team and told him where he was playing it absolutely no problem for him,” said Duffy. “He went out there and gave it his best and that's all you can ask.

“It is my job to pick the best team available for the Burnley match - I picked a team that I thought would do well for Bristol City.

“I though it did that for a decent part of the game. We weren't clinical enough in front of goal when we had a lot of chances and that was really the thing that was missing. I will pick a team I feel will cause problems for Burnley.”