DANNY Ings has vowed to show the Burnley fans that he was not a wasted signing when he returns from injury in the new year.

Ings is yet to make his Clarets debut after suffering a serious knee injury in only his second training session following his transfer to Burnley from AFC Bournemouth in August.

The fee was never disclosed but it was said that Burnley paid an initial fee of £200,000, with add-ons rising to £1m, to bring the 19-year-old to Turf Moor and reunite him with Eddie Howe, his former Bournemouth boss.

Ings’ recovery from surgery is going well, with his comeback expected in January.

And the forward has told the Lancashire Telegraph that he is more determined than ever to prove his ability when he returns from injury.

“This injury has made me so much more hungry to do well,” Ings said.

“I’m doing light joggng now and I’m back on my feet. It was very frustrating, particularly the first seven weeks in a cast.

“I’ve been working with Pato (Martin Paterson) in the gym and he has really helped me to settle in, but I don’t want to put a timescale on when I’ll be back. The gaffer and Jason (Tindall) don’t want me to rush it.

“I’ve worked really hard though and I just want to get on the field and show the fans and the manager what I can do, because the fans are probably thinking at the moment that I was a waste of a signing because I haven’t played.

“I want to show them what I can do and prove my worth.

“Obviously the club signed me for a lot of money, although I’m not going to feel pressured because of that, I will just take my time.

“I know that I can’t expect to go straight into the team, I will have to get my chance here and there and do well, then hopefully cement my place in the team.

“But that’s what I really want to do.”

Fulham and Crystal Palace had bids rejected for Ings during the summer, with Manchester City and Liverpool also among those linked.

There were suggestions that Fulham and Palace could have been ready to revive their interest before the closure of the transfer window but the young striker, who helped Bournemouth reached the League One play-offs last season, always had his heart set on linking up again with Howe.

“Fulham are a Premier League club but I don’t know how many chances I would have got there,” he said.

“Crystal Palace were interested as well, and I read about Manchester City and Liverpool in the papers but I didn’t really pay much attention to that because it didn’t really seem realistic.

“As soon as I heard Burnley were interested I didn’t want to go anywhere else.

“Fulham did come in for me earlier but they didn’t come back in because by then we’d told them I wanted to come to Burnley.

“It had been such a great season, making the play-offs with Bournemouth, so coming here topped it off really.

“When I was at Bournemouth I went on loan to Dorchester but the gaffer (Howe) was always calling me up and asking me how I was doing.

“Then he gave me my debut for Bournemouth at MK Dons and it didn’t go too well to be honest, but he kept faith in me and that meant a lot to me.

“He’s got faith me and I know I will get my chance. It’s a massive boost knowing that, because if you have a manager who doesn’t believe in your game it can be hard.

“I think Burnley is the perfect step for me. League One can be a scrap but that’s not really what I’m about, because I’m not the biggest, so I think the Championship could suit my game.

“I just want to repay the gaffer’s faith in me.”