FRANNY Benali celebrated with a KFC after reaching Burnley FC, following a morale-boosting run alongside former Saints teammate James Beattie.

The Saints legends ran in tandem during the latest 40-plus mile leg of Benali’s 1,000-mile Big Run, which is raising money for Cancer Research UK.

Then Benali ended the fifth day of his epic challenge by refuelling with some fried chicken.

“Apparently I needed to replace about 7,000 calories so I thought I’d have a treat!” he laughed.

Benali had been welcomed to Burnley’s Turf Moor ground by their Southampton-born England Under-21 striker Danny Ings.

“I never played at Turf Moor so it was my first visit, as it was to Hull City a couple of days earlier.

"Again, we were made to feel extremely welcome. They put an ice bath on for me and couldn’t have been more helpful.

“It was great to meet Danny and Beatts’ sense of humour helped me a lot.”

Benali had set off from Kippax before being joined by Accrington Stanley manager Beattie, who had tracked him via GPS.

“I found it tough at the start but Beatts put a smile on my face and a spring in my step when he joined me after training. It was great to see him and catch up.”

Benali will be joined by Matt Le Tissier at some point today, before stopping off at Everton, Liverpool and Manchester United on Saturday.

You can follow Franny’s progress on Twitter @Benalisbigrun and at jellyfishlivewire.co.uk/benalis-big-run/.

To donate, go to justgiving.com/BenalisBigRun or text BIGR55 followed by the amount you would like to donate (EG £1, £3, £5, £10) to 70070.

For example, if you want to donate £10 text BIGR55 £10 to 70070