Alex Kacaniklic hopes his loan spell at Burnley will boost his chances of cementing a place in the Fulham first team.
The Swedish star joined the Championship Clarets last week after falling down the pecking order at Craven Cottage following the January arrival of Urby Emanuelson.
Kacaniklic had been a regular for Martin Jol’s men this season, making 19 appearances and scoring crucial goals against Norwich, Arsenal and West Brom.
However, he hasn’t featured for Fulham since the FA Cup defeat at Manchester United on January 26.
The 21-year-old benefited from a loan spell at Watford last season, where he played under Burnley boss Sean Dyche, and Kacaniklic hopes his stint at Turf Moor will have a similar effect.
He says “It’s been a good season. I’ve made 12 starts in the Premier League and scored three goals.
“I’ve also made my debut for the national team and managed to get a couple of MoMs.
“But I feel I need to be playing to continue my progress, which is why I came here.
“The manager brought players in and I haven’t featured since. I was on the bench for four or five games but didn’t get any minutes.
“I’m not happy when I’m not playing and wanted to go out on loan.
“I have some important games for Sweden later this month and I wanted to make sure I kept my fitness up.
“We have a crucial qualifier against Ireland and a friendly against Slovakia as well, so I wanted to find somewhere to play.”
Dyche this week joked he would splash his own cash if there was a chance of landing Kacaniklic on a permanent deal in the summer.
But the youngster, who still has a year remaining on his contract, has ruled out leaving SW6 for good.
“I am happy at Fulham,” he added. “My target is to play every week and become one of their main players.
“But I’ve got a better chance of first-team football here at the moment. They have a lot of games still to play, so that’s why I wanted to come to Burnley.
“It’s also an opportunity to show the Fulham manager what I can do. Hopefully I can get some goals and assists and help the team.”
