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Just a few weeks ago, following the win at Hull, a top six finish looked more than a possibility. We'd two home games in the following week but they yielded only one point and since then we've lost a further four games.
One point from six games and the ridiculous thing is that we'd be in the top six now had we just won eight points from those games, and we still have one of our games in hand. But the poor run has almost destroyed our hopes and it's also totally wiped away a goal difference that had been in the plus column ever since Chris Iwelumo gave us a 1-0 win at home to Nottingham Forest on the opening day of the season.
It's been our worst run in the Championship since a run of five defeats in December/January in the promotion season but on that occasion we still had 17 games remaining to turn things round, which we did with only two further defeats.
I don't think any Burnley fan coming out of Leicester last Saturday, let alone Forest three days later, believed we still had a chance, but dafter things have happened. We can't reach the 76 points total we had two years ago but a big run now would certainly put some pressure on those teams above us.
Three of them are teams that have beaten us in this run and we still have three of them to play. Who knows?
I'm certainly not getting over excited at the prospect and, for what it's worth, I think the season is just about over. But whilst the fat lady is already on stage she hasn't started singing just yet.
Swansea arrive at Turf Moor having had yet another good season and have already improved on the last two. They finished 8th with 68 points two years ago, their first season following promotion, and last season they had one point more and finished one place higher.
Already this season they've beaten both of those points totals having reached 70, and with still five games to go. They sit fourth but are now four points behind second place Norwich who beat Nottingham Forest last night at Carrow Road.
They've achieved all this whilst changing manager each season. Roberto Martinez left for Wigan in the summer of 2009. He was replaced by Paulo Sousa who opted for a move to Leicester last summer.
Brendan Rodgers, who looked set for a Championship tour having managed both Watford and Reading within the previous year, took over and it has been an almost seamless change. They are the lowest goalscorers in the top six, but their 58 goals is considerably better than their final total of 40 last year, the lowest in the Championship.
Of those goals, Scott Sinclair, signed from Chelsea in the summer, is by some distance the highest goalscorer. He's got 16 of them, with 5 from the penalty spot, and closest to him is Darren Pratley with 8.
Swansea are looking to get their away form back having lost their last three at Scunthorpe, Derby and Preston.
Rodgers has a full strength squad to select from and the only question is whether he opts to make any changes after his team were held to a 1-1 draw against Hull on Tuesday. He'd played the same eleven who had beaten Norwich three days earlier.
That team was: Dorus de Vries, Angel Rangel, Neil Taylor, Garry Monk, Ashley Williams, Joe Allen, Mark Gower, Stephen Dobbie, Nathan Dyer, Scott Sinclair, Fabio Borini. Subs: Alan Tate, Darren Pratley, Craig Beattie, Luke Moore, Yves Ma-Kalambay, Tamas Priskin, Leon Britton.
Eddie Howe will be without Marvin Bartley after the midfielder was sent off at Nottingham Forest on Tuesday. Bartley begins a three match ban that will also see him miss the home game against Middlesbrough on Tuesday and the away game at Derby in a week's time.
He is, however, boosted by the news that Jay Rodriguez should be ok to resume after missing out with a hip injury at Forest and I expect him to come straight back into the team.
That, I think, could be the only change and I expect Burnley to line up: Brian Jensen, Tyrone Mears, Michael Duff, Andre Bikey, Danny Fox, Jack Cork, Dean Marney, Wade Elliott, Chris Eagles, Jay Rodriguez, Nathan Delfouneso. Subs from: Lee Grant, David Edgar, Clarke Carlisle, Shane Duffy, Brian Easton, Graham Alexander, Ross Wallace, Steven Thompson, Chris Iwelumo.
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There was a surprise ahead of kick off. During the week Joey Gudjonsson had been forced off injured at Spurs in the Carling Cup and manager Owen Coyle confirmed ahead of the Swansea game that he would be ruled out for between four and six weeks, so more of a shock than a surprise to see him in the starting line up.
It didn't inspire us in front of the television cameras and we turned in a poor performance during which we couldn't muster a single shot on target.
We'd dropped out of the top six ahead of the tea time kick off but a win would take us back to fourth. Unfortunately that never looked like coming against a decidedly ordinary looking Swansea side who managed two goals from Jason Scotland.
The first of them was a nonsense as referee Michael Oliver turned the game on its head with a ridiculous red card for Michael Duff. Oliver had incredibly sent him off for a shirt tug some distance outside the box but then pointed to the penalty spot from which they took the lead.
We had offered little with 11 on the pitch; we offered even less with 10 on. The game was as dull as ditchwater and only came to life in the last ten minutes as we pushed for a leveller. Unfortunately it cost us and Scotland got his second. The closest we came was via a Paterson effort following an Alex MacDonald cross.
The teams were;
Burnley: Brian Jensen, Graham Alexander, Michael Duff, Steven Caldwell, Stephen Jordan, Wade Elliott, Joey Gudjonsson (Alex MacDonald 86), Chris McCann, Chris Eagles, Robbie Blake (Steven Thompson 56), Martin Paterson. Subs not used: Diego Penny, Clarke Carlisle, Alan Mahon.
Swansea: Dorus de Vries, Angel Rangel, Gary Monk, Ashley Williams, Alan Tate, Joe Allen (Nathan Dyer 64), Darren Pratley, Leon Britton, Jordi Gomez (Gorki Pintado 87), Mark Gower, Jason Scotland. Subs not used: Dimitrios Konstantopoulos, Albert Serran, Tom Butler.
Previous 20 Seasons | |||||
Season | Div | Ven | Result | Att | Scorers |
1992/93 | 2 | h | 1-0 | 10,913 | Penney |
a | 1-1 | 4,973 | Farrell | ||
1993/94 | 2 | a | 1-3 | 3,358 | Francis |
h | 1-1 | 10,694 | Davis | ||
1995/96 | 2 | h | 3-0 | 8,068 | Nogan Joyce Eyres |
a | 4-2 | 2,078 | Eyres Nogan Cooke(2) | ||
2008/09 | C | a | 1-1 | 13,299 | Gudjonsson |
h | 0-2 | 13,740 | |||
2010/11 | C | a | 0-1 | 15,135 | |