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After checks it was all because Owen Coyle had named himself in the Burnley side and it was part of a feature they for Big League Weekend ahead of our home game against Sheffield United that will be televised live.
Coyle lined up in a side that was stronger than has been the case recently with both Stephen Jordan and Kevin McDonald getting a game. For Jordan it was his first action since February whilst McDonald too has been starved of first team action recently.
It didn't take us long to go in front and it was McDonald who scored it, his first goal since his brace back in December when we beat Arsenal in the Carling Cup. He made one of his trademark runs that took him past several Accrington players before placing a left foot shot beyond the keeper to his left.
That set it up for hopefully a big score, but although we created enough chances it was right on half time before we added a second. Nik Kudiersky twice missed chances after coming up from the back, Wes Fletcher hit a cross shot wide and perhaps the best opportunity of them all fell to Chris Anderson. He's called Scorer by his team mates but the midfielder who is usually so reliable in front of goal hit his shot over the bar.
It was Coyle himself who got the second with a lob over the keeper from the right of goal and that saw us go in at the interval with a two goal lead.
The second half proved to be something of a scrappy affair and despite having a lot of the play we didn't create too much in the way of goalscoring opportunities whilstthere wasn't too much to get concerned about at the back.
In the end we had to settle for a 2-0 win with the final whistle bringing some relief to the fans on a night that was as cold as anything I can recall all season. We might have had a decent day but winter definitely returned to Accrington this evening.
The youth team take centre stage next week and the reserves are not in action again until a week next Monday when we entertain Blackpool. For now though, we'll enjoy our three point lead at the top of the league.
The Burnley team was;
Diego Penny, Dil Chaggar, Nik Kudiersky, Chris Lynch (Jake McEneaney 70), Stephen Jordan, Alex MacDonald, Kevin McDonald, Chris Anderson, Michael King, Owen Coyle (Dom Knowles 81), Wes Fletcher. Subs not used: Stef Ritchie, Oliver Devenney, Liam Newman.