Clarets heroes hold out

SUPERHEROES come in many guises.

And while Steve Cotterill's squad may not don Batman costumes or scale palace walls, you can only marvel at the crusade they are fighting at present.

From Iron Man to Daredevil ... Cotterill seems to have the lot right now in his elite brigade.

And none fit those descriptions more than his steely-eyed defenders, whose superhuman efforts in a virtual monsoon were rewarded with another clean sheet against Wigan's determined band of high flyers.

Now, this season, in four league games away from home, Burnley's battle-hardened back line has still only conceded one solitary goal. And even that was a fluky winner at West Ham!

So along with Rotherham and Watford, free-scoring Wigan - who had found the target in every league game before last night - can be added to the growing list of victims.

Holy shut-outs!

Led by the imperious John McGreal, it is no exaggeration to suggest that this revamped Burnley defence could even become one of the most successful units in recent memory.

Drilled to perfection behind the scenes, they seem to carry each and every battle plan onto the field with military precision.

The flat back four had proved a pretty impenetrable shield in previous contests, but as if to show their strength even last night's switch to three centre backs - including the awesome Michael Duff - failed to reveal any chinks in the accompanying armour.

And with Mo Camara and Lee Roche tucking in nicely to provide extra protection down the flanks, Wigan ran out of ideas long before referee Paul Armstrong called a halt to proceedings.

In fact, in true crime-fighting style, this could have been a real smash-and-grab raid for the Clarets had they not wasted the best two chances of a contest largely devoid of anything resembling goalmouth action.

Graham Branch seemed certain to secure all three-points 13 minutes from time, racing into the six-yard box to somehow nod Duff's header across goal over the angle.

Branch later claimed the faintest of deflections robbed him of glory, but there could be no such defence for new signing Jean-Louis Valois, who really should have bagged the swag for Burnley.

The French winger had only been on the field for eight minutes as a late substitute when Ian Moore's injury time cross totally flummoxed John Filan and bounced kindly eight yards out.

Valois met the ball on the full, but with Filan scrambling and defenders quickly closing him down, he agonisingly spurned the chance to become the real hero by volleying the best chance of the evening over the crossbar.

Cotterill later revealed that his latest recruit took a ribbing for that from his team-mates.

But more than anything, that light-hearted banter probably serves as a truer barometer of the contentment at earning a valuable and fully deserved share of the spoils.

Wigan may still be unfashionable in their white elephant of a stadium, where rugby still clearly takes preference among most of the townsfolk.

But despite the glaring lack of bums on seats, the ground-sharing Latics will probably never have a better chance of earning Premiership football.

In prolific strike pairing Jason Roberts and Nathan Ellington they possess arguably the sharpest sharp-shooters outside the top flight.

The Latics defence, expertly marshalled by Matt Jackson, ships goals at a far lesser rate than the afore-mentioned strikers seem to bag at the other end.

So despite a workmanlike midfield, the Wigan fans that bother to turn up have every reason to feel confident this could be their year.

And that's why Burnley's display here also provided plenty of cheer for the visiting fans, who braved a horrible night to hop down the M6.

Pretty it wasn't. But Cotterill made a vow to himself in the summer to make Burnley a harder to beat - and he has been as good as his word.

The old adage of keeping it clean and looking to snatch a goal at the other end carries more clout with players in your ranks like Robbie Blake and Ian Moore.

However, this was not to be their night and so it was left for the mean machine to grind out an ugly stalemate.

Moore actually came close to opening the scoring in the eighth minute, hooking a cross from Blake over his shoulder and straight into Filan's grasp.

But that was the only goalkeeping contribution of note until Danny Coyne threw his cap on a weak Ellington free kick seconds before the break.

Inbetween, it was all about guts, endeavour and getting blocks (Frank Sinclair), tackles (McGreal) and headers (everyone else!) in to deny Wigan's frequent forays forward.

Richard Chaplow exemplified the spirit perfectly when, in an amazing burst, he won the ball back four times in seconds when he was favourite to win none.

The second half sadly brought little improvement as the wintry weather worsened.

Lee McCulloch blasted wide for Wigan and Coyne saved magnificently when the same player tried his luck from distance late on.

Other than those brief flurries, Burnley again kept the hosts at arms length with relative ease until, shortly after Branch's missed opportunity, Lee Roche limped off with a worrying hamstring injury.

That brought Valois into the fray and prompted mutterings in the press box about the likelihood of the wide man coming up with a miraculous stoppage time winner.

However, on a night for heroes I suppose there just had to be a villain!