ANDRE Gray’s suspension might not be great news for Burnley but I believe it gives the likes of Patrick Bamford and Sam Vokes the chance to step up.

I don’t think Andre has started the season on fire, goals wise, but when you lose the Championship’s player of the year and top scorer you’re going to feel it.

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I’ve always been a big believer that injuries and suspensions give opportunities to others and players have got to grasp that.

They’ve got to take the chance and they should be chomping at the bit to get out there and show what they can do.

It’s a tricky case but Burnley have inherited Andre’s problems and he has to be punished at the end of the day. It’s difficult for the club and the fans are having to suffer, but what Andre did had to be dealt with and the only way they can do that is by punishing the player and taking football away from him.

I think Bamford is a different option to Gray so it will be interesting to see how Burnley play without him.

Gray likes to play on the shoulder and run in behind where Bamford is a more elegant player, he can link-up play, but he’s got a lot of quality to bring to that side I think.

It will be interesting to see what Sean Dyche does with the three central midfielders and how he tries to keep them in the team.

There are options there; he could play Hendrick slightly further out to the right, a bit of a lop-sided four-man midfield perhaps.

We’ve not seen anything of Ashley Barnes yet, I’m not sure he’s got the same quality as Vokes and Bamford, but he puts defenders under pressure and keeps them on their toes, so his presence is good and if they can get him fit and back on the bench that would be a help.

It’s a tough game on Sunday against Arsenal but we saw against Liverpool that Burnley can do well in these games, we saw it a couple of years ago when they beat Manchester City.

These teams come to Turf Moor to be shot down and they are the games you look forward to in the Premier League.