Forward Laurent Depoitre says he hopes to be a “pain” for the Burnley defence on Saturday.

The 29-year-old had to be content with a substitute appearance in the 1-1 draw against Stoke City, having scored in the previous three matches.

But the big Belgian – who could be a contender for his country’s World Cup squad next summer – says he is relishing the competition with record signing Steve Mounié and will be ready to tackle Burnley if selected.

“In the Premier League, every game is difficult, even if it’s a big team or a smaller team,” said the £3.5m arrival from Porto, who has five goals so far.

“We know every match is tough, but the next match is at home against Burnley and we think we can take something.

“They are very strong defensively, but we have shown even against very strong defences that we can score and we can make pain (for the opposition).

“Let’s see what happens on Saturday.”

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On the rivalry with £11.5m Mounié, who has recorded doubles against Crystal Palace and Brighton & Hove Albion, Depoitre understands exactly what head coach David Wagner wants.

“We know it’s tough competition between us,” said Depoitre. “Me and Steve are good friends, even if it’s a two-for-one position there is no problem.

“We know there are a lot of games to play and when one of us is tired, the other one will play, so it’s good.”

Depoitre is focused on victory this coming weekend, having felt Town dropped two points against Stoke, when he was delighted by the reception he got from Town’s fans when replacing Mounié after 62 minutes.

“It was great for me to score three goals in three games and when the supporters give you such a welcome, it’s amazing – you just want to score more and to win every game,” he explained.

“The feeling after the game was that we could have won, because at 1-0 up we had some good chances.

“If we could have scored a second goal, the match was done.

“Okay, they scored and then we pressed to score a second, but we lost two points.

“We know you can’t expect to win every game, but we were at home and we think we were better. If one team had to win, it was us.”