WELL it wasn't exactly a shock was it? The last time Burnley left Bramall Lane victorious, Steve Cotterill was at junior school, you only got two points for a win and people could walk down the high street in crushed velvet loons and a tank-top without comment being passed.

Thirty-two years on, Cotterill has grown up, fashion and the rules of the game have moved on, but still the Clarets cannot lift the curse.

Then again, having won at Molineux, maybe breaking two hoodoos in one season was too much to hope for.

Saturday's defeat to Sheffield United marked the twenty-third game of the campaign. And Steve Cotterill and his charges can look back at the opening half of the season with quiet satisfaction.

Saturday's result aside, the Clarets have never looked like being outplayed, as evidenced by the fact that they lie only two points from a play-off place.

Indeed, had Burnley managed to salvage a couple of draws from those early defeats, a top six slot would be theirs.

Much of this is down to the strength of the team's spine. Brian Jensen is a safe pair of hands, McGreal and Sinclair provide as formidable a central defensive pairing as there is in this division, Micah Hyde is a commanding presence in midfield and up top the Clarets officially have the Championship's most lethal marksman.

Much of what Burnley FC will be capable of achieving in the second half of the season will be determined by whether they can hang on to Ade Akinbiyi once the January transfer window re-opens.

Ominous noises emanated from Bramall Lane towards the back end of last week, with Neil Warnock re-affirming his admiration for the striker.

"I think he'd have scored twenty to twenty-five goals for us with the way we play" commented the Blades' chief.

The worry for supporters is that with the club reportedly losing £1 million a year, can the board resist the temptation to cash in?