WAYNE Thomas is backing Gifton Noel-Williams and Ade Akinbiyi to fine tune their striking instincts in Austria before wreaking havoc in the Championship.

The former Stoke City hitmen are still looking to register on the scoresheet after three pre-season friendlies against Cheltenham Town, Accrington Stanley and crack La Liga side Malaga.

At Burnley's picturesque training camp here in the Dachstein mountain range, the hope is that Burnley's own man-mountains can hone a partnership that rarely got the opportunity to get off the ground in the less salubrious surroundings of the Potteries.

And Thomas, who played alongside both strikers at the Britannia Stadium, feels sure Noel-Williams and Akinbiyi can form a deadly duo to help get the Clarets off to a flying start to league action at Crewe in a fortnight's time.

Clarets defender Thomas, 26, said: "As with all striking partnerships, if you know each other it is bound to stand you in good stead.

"There were a few questions asked at Stoke last season about certain players in certain positions and Gifton, in particular, often wasn't playing as an out-and-out striker.

"But when he was pushed on towards the end of the season, after Ade joined Burnley, he went on to score an amazing number of goals.

"In comparison, Ade started last season by scoring goals and I just think he works terrifically hard for himself and the team.

"You don't get as many big money moves as Ade has without having something special about you and nobody is going to buy strikers who don't score goals, so obviously he has that in his locker.

"I don't think he and Gifton played up front together too often at Stoke, but hopefully this will be a season where they hit it off and score a few between them."

Certainly all the ingredients are in place here in Austria for the two strikers - and the rest of Burnley's new boys - to gel.

The same national sport and recreation centre Burnley used last summer has undergone a welcome facelift, adding a touch of luxury to the homely feel of the place, nestled in a natural amphitheatre of granite cliff faces just an hour's drive from picturesque Salzburg.

All the players' rooms have been fully refurbished while thankfully, there has been no repeat of the freak weather that hit this region last July, flooding the training pitches and even forcing one of the friendly games to be moved to another location at the last minute.

The pitches here look in tip-top condition. The work starts now to ensure that when Burnley face Crewe Alexandra in 12 days time, the players are too.