Cummings and Goings, with STEPHEN CUMMINGS. . .

BLANK weekends during the football season? Frankly, I'm not a fan.

Like all Burnley supporters, I need my weekly dose of all things Claret and Blue and last weekend we were denied.

The alternative came in the shape of watching pampered Premiership prima donnas narrowly failing to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in Vienna. And to be honest it just didn't fill the void.

Still, one group of individuals who will have warmly welcomed the break are Burnley's players. After the Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday treadmill that represented the month of August, the opportunity to rest weary limbs will have been well received.

The break also afforded an opportunity for reflection. The inevitable question being, what do you think of it so far?

The honest answer is that initial impressions have been both encouraging and worrying in equal measures.

Steve Cotterill's first objective was to stop Burnley's keeper spending too much time fishing the ball out of the back of his own net. And to that end he has been successful. With the exception of the Bank Holiday madness against Gillingham, Burnley run a tight, organised ship.

This is thanks in no small measure to the quality signings Cotterill has made. Coyne may be a little suspect on crosses, but his all-round game is far from Beastly.

At the heart of the defence the vastly experience John McGreal and Frank Sinclair have formed a sound defensive base for the team.

The latter may be prone to rushes of blood to the head, yet he is far more likely to make a vital block or tackle.

And in paying around £30,000 for Michael Duff, Cotterill should be charged with theft.

Having watched Northern Ireland's shambolic defence on Saturday, it is difficult to make a case for the classy Duff's omission.

Having got one part of the equation sorted out, Cotterill now needs to address the other. The Clarets are as tight up front as they are at the back.

Only Leeds, Leicester and Rotherham have had more difficulty breaching opposition defences.

A big part of the problem is that everything goes through Blake. Stop, or isolate him, and you stop Burnley.