RICHARD CHAPLOW, a Burnley fan as a schoolboy, is hoping to net his first Saints goal against his former teammates.

The loan midfielder returns to Turf Moor tonight for the first time since leaving for West Bromwich Albion for £1.5m 14 months ago.

Accrington-born Chaplow scored seven goals in 74 appearances for Burnley before his move to the Hawthorns and cannot think of a better place to break his Saints duck than the ground he first visited as a young fan.

Chaplow, who signed a three month loan deal for Saints as part of the deal that took Nigel Quashie to West Brom, said: "I grew up at Burnley as a kid, I played for them from the age of seven at their centre of excellence and made my first-team debut for them under Stan Ternent so it's an understatement to say I'm looking forward to going back."

Now 21, Chaplow is hoping to score against one of his closest pals in Brian Jensen, Burnley's Danish goalkeeper.

The England under-21 international said: "Hopefully I'll put one past him. We've had a bit of banter and I can't wait to give him some more stick, along with Michael Duff and Frank Sinclair.

"The team has changed quite a bit since I was there. There are quite a few new faces, but I know five or six of them and still keep in touch and meet up with them when I'm back home.

"I've got quite a following there tonight - a lad that I used to play Burnley YTS with as well as uncles and aunts, and my mum, dad and brother who are all Burnley fans.

"Most of them will be coming from Haslingden, which is just outside Burnley, and hopefully they'll be supporting me tonight."

Chaplow reckons his Saints teammates will have to be at their best at Turf Moor tonight, after seeing them end a run of three successive defeats with a Sky-televised victory against Norwich on Friday night.

He added: "I watched the game with a few of the lads in our hotel. Burnley were struggling themselves for a little while but they played quite well and a 2-0 win against Norwich is a very good result.

"They can beat anyone on their day, as I think most teams can in this division."

Chaplow will stay in Burnley on Tuesday night to celebrate the birthday of his girlfriend, who is from nearby Barnoldswick, and he is hoping to do so on the back of a rare win in a Saints shirt.

He added: "We need something out of the match, we've had two bad performances in the last two games and we're looking to put things right."

The lads have to hold their hands up, it was a bad performance from everyone against Sheffield United, which is not what the fans or the club deserve.

"We're in a scrap only way to get out of it is to put our foot in where it hurts, to score goals and not concede.

"We need two wins and a draw, seven or right points should do it but we're obviously looking for a few more to give us some breathing space."