BURNLEY boy Marc Pugh admits nothing stimulates the senses like a trip to arch-rivals Blackburn Rovers before vowing to pull out all the stops against his old adversaries.

The 27-year-old, a childhood supporter of the Clarets who came through the club's youth system, goes behind enemy lines when Cherries travel to Ewood Park tomorrow (3pm).

Pugh, a ball boy at Turf Moor during his time in the centre of excellence, drew inspiration from the crackling atmosphere evoked by Burnley's Lancashire derbies with Rovers throughout his fledgling career.

But while Blackburn's role as fierce foes remains indelibly etched on Pugh's mind, the Cherries winger insists playing on one of the Championship's biggest stages will provide the ultimate motivation.

Pugh told the Daily Echo: “As a youth-team player I had to go to all of Burnley's home games and they were in the same league as Blackburn at the time. Those der¬bies gave me a taste for the atmosphere of big matches and made me all the more deter¬mined to do well.

“It gave me that extra incentive to reach the top. You imagine yourself being the best player on the pitch, scoring goals and mak¬ing the crowd go wild and that's kind of glory you dream about as a youngster.

“I went to Ewood Park quite a few times with my school as well. It was always fit to grace the Premier League and no matter who you are, playing at a big ground like that should inspire you to put on a good show.”

Pugh, who was a second-half substitute in Cherries' 1-0 win at Blackburn in March, continued: “A lot of my old school friends are Blackburn fans and they will be there as well as a load of friends and family who support Burnley.

“I have had plenty of texts telling me to put one over on them and it would be lovely to go there and win again but from a professional point of view I need to approach it like any other game.

“The most important thing is the three points for the team because that's the only way you can enjoy the game.”