It will be the eighth wonder of the world

"I was delighted at half time," said Black. I think the three goals flattered us a bit as our first half was a bit iffy.

"It was much better in the second half and but for one or two unfortunate incidents we could have scored at least two or three more. We really looked to kill the game off after the break and I was pleased because that is not something we have always done."

Stan pulled no punches after the game and issued a warning to any Burnley fans who might think staying up is a formality.

"That was woeful and was as bad as anything I can remember, it was embarrassing," said Stan. "We haven’t been that bad for a long time. We lacked bollocks.

"We have ten games left to play now and we need to get four wins in that time. There are 30 points to play for and I’m sure we’ll get out of it."

It was not total confidence though and he added, "If we get to 52 points it will be the eighth wonder of the world."

"It is no good crying over spilt milk now because we have to move on and prepare for the next game and that is against Forest on Wednesday. We looked a relegation team here so we have to buck up on that. We should have defended much deeper and there were a million things we could have done better.

"We prepared well for the game with some good training in the sun and I took them away for a break, it looks as though that was a ricket. But we’ll see over the rest of the season. There’s not a lot more I can say, Coventry fully deserved their win."

Stan concluded with words of encouragement for youngsters Paul Scott and Ryan Townsend who got their first experience of first team action.

"The young lads did well and I thought I would give them a taste of it. They are not ready yet though and it feels like we’re sending boys out on men’s errands. I thought they did well though."

Sifting through the rubble, there was little comfort for Burnley manager Stan Ternent.

After such an awful display from his team, which saw them gift Coventry three first-half goals, they are only two points above the relegation zone. They travel to fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest on Wednesday with a season to save.

"It was the worst defeat for as long as I can remember," said Ternent. "You cannot take anything from that game. It was embarrassing."

Last week Ternent took his squad to a training camp in Spain, but the warm weather exercise did nothing to eradicate their defensive problems. Barely 10 minutes gone when Gary McSheffrey ran to the byline and crossed for Julian Joachim to beat Brian Jensen, at his near post.

Then, on 33 minutes — just after Burnley’s Paul Weller somehow sent the ball wide of an open goal — McSheffrey outjumped his marker to head Bjarni Gudjonsson’s cross past the stranded Jensen. Any confidence the visitors had of getting back into the match quickly disappeared when Joachim was brought down by Jensen in the area and McSheffrey blasted the ball to his right.