A bitter pill to swallow

Back to Saturday's game and many of us will have left the ground wondering why we hadn't picked up at least a point. The Clarets started very brightly indeed and our forward movement in the opening minutes paid off in the fourth minute when Steve Foster's pinpoint deep cross found youngster Chris McCann who made no mistake, slamming home from eight yards out.

The goal lifted an already noisy Turf Moor crowd but unfortunately Birmingham were soon level following a comedy of errors at the back.

On-loan Arsenal youngster Niklas Bendtner was left with probably the easiest goal of his career when Michael Duff managed to fire a clearance straight at left back John Harley.

Had lady luck been with the Clarets the ball would have gone out for a corner. It didn't and when it fell to Bendtner just a yard out, the Dane had the oh-so-simple task of slotting past fellow countryman Brian Jensen.

The Clarets continued to try and get back in front, with Steve Jones firing a shot just wide of Maik Taylor's goal, but in all fairness it was the visitors who should have made it 2-1. Neil Danns will have nightmares when he has flashbacks of his awful miss which he screwed hopelessly wide after finding himself in a good position.

Both sides then looked content to get in at the break on level terms with the last 15 minutes producing little if anything for either keeper to deal with.

The second half start pretty much the same as the first with the Clarets taking the game to Steve Bruce's side. Whilst our passing and ideas were good the Burnley widemen saw very little of the ball and failed to make headway through the centre.

The visitors barely threatened Brian Jensen in the Burnley goal until the introduction of DJ Campbell whose first, and only meaningful touch of the game, silenced a by now partisan home support. The cross from the right should have been dealt with by the Beast but when he spilled it, Campbell was on hand to punish him by bundling the ball in from close range.

Despite a lot of hard work and determination, the Clarets were left with very few chances to equalise although Andy Gray came the closest when his header was cleared off the line following a superb cross from the impressive John Harley.

As the final whistle went, Burnley fans were left to contemplate a defeat which was a bitter pill to swallow after some good football going forward. As for the man of the match, step forward John Harley. The former Chelsea full back is in an impressive run of form at the minute and this continued against Birmingham when he looked solid both at the back and going forward.

So Leeds United next and many will feel it is an ideal chance to get back to winning ways against Dennis Wise's overpaid strugglers. Lets hope that is the case and we can end November on a high.