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Not as though that makes it an easy task as we found out against an Oldham side that gave us a few problems, particularly early in the second half, before we came through with a comfortable win in the end.
The first problem was getting a side together. With Stephen Foster gone, and six players unavailable because of injury, illness or suspension, it left us with just fifteen players and that meant only four substitutes. The injured and suspended sat at the front of the directors' box to watch the game, whilst John Harley was missing altogether because of illness.
It all meant a starting place for John Spicer at right back whilst Steve Jones came back for Harley on the left hand side of midfield. The two other changes since Scunthorpe saw captain Steven Caldwell return from injury in place of David Unsworth whilst Brian Jensen was in goal after Gabor Kiraly was ruled out.
The game got off to a slow start with neither side able to make too much progress. Our best opportunity fell to Robbie Blake but he looked for Andy Gray instead of shooting and the chance was gone. At the other end we were having some problems at the back but Oldham never looked as though they would capitalise, there again they did have Michael Ricketts up front.
The game really did struggle to capture the imagination and it wasn't helped by a referee who was far too fussy. He was struggling at times to keep up with play and when he was he was usually getting in the way of the ball or the players. We can't blame a referee for a poor half of football, but he certainly didn't help.
His half time whilst signalled the end of a disappointing half and as the subs warmed up we welcomed back a hero of a decade or so ago, David Eyres. He received the expected warm reception from all four sides of the ground, but the Oldham fans haven't been able to work out the Ooh David Eyres chant as yet.
Back to the action and Steve Cotterill made a double substitution at the start of the second half. Off went both Joey Gudjonsson and Steve Jones and on came James O'Connor and Alan Mahon. If the changes were meant to improve things, they certainly didn't initially as Oldham had probably their best spell of the game. But it didn't last too long and soon Burnley were very much in command.
With just about ten minutes of the second half gone we came close to breaking the deadlock. We won a free kick some 35 yards from goal and up stepped Robbie. He couldn't have come much closer but his free kick hit the foot of the post to the keeper's right and Oldham got the ball away to safety.
It seemed to kick start us and only a few minutes later we were in front, albeit somewhat fortuitously. Andy Gray, who had been well shackled by Sean Gregan, found space on the left hand side of the box and his shot looped over Mark Crossley and into the far corner of the net. I'm not convinced it was a clean shot from Gray, it looked very much as thought it had come off his shin.
Who cares though, we were in front, and the lead could have been doubled had referee Hill pointed to the spot. It was Gray again, getting onto a Chris McCann pass. He was all set to pull the trigger from just a few yards out when he was pulled down. Incredibly Hill said no.
He said no again when Gray was clearly fouled again. The ball fell kindly to Wade Elliott who didn't make the most of his shot from the right hand side. Again though it should have been a penalty.
At the other end we were conceding too many opportunities to Oldham and more than once had to be thankful to Brian Jensen. The Danish keeper was in top form and made a number of excellent saves.
Mahon and Blake were linking up well and it was this combination that saw us double the lead and just about end the tie as a contest. Mahon played Robbie in and he was one-on-one with Crossley. You knew, you just knew, he was going to score and he made absolutely no mistake. It really did mark the return of Robbie Blake, his first Turf Moor goal since the two against Preston just before he left us.
Oldham probably deserved a goal, but again the Beast kept them out and as so often happens after they'd missed their chances, we went down and got another. Ade Akinbiyi had come on for Blake and he wrapped it all up with a wonderful finish. He went clear and hit his shot with the outside of his right foot. He couldn't have got it better and it sailed into the corner to compete the scoring.
The last few minutes also saw Oldham bring on substitute Neal Trotman. The last time he played on the Turf Moor pitch was at the end of the 2004/05 season in the Youth Alliance Cup Final. Then he was captain of our youth team. He got himself booked almost immediately, but it was good to see him in their side and hopefully he'll get ever closer to being a regular for them.
Overall it might not have been the best of performances, but we did what we set out to do and that was to get to the next round. We're there, and we're looking forward to the draw.
The real plus points for us were the clean sheet, and hitting three goals with three strikers getting them. We'd good individual performances at either end of the pitch. Jensen was so close to getting my man of the match vote, but I've just got to go for Robbie. So often he was able to create space for himself, so often he created something for us, and when the chance came he took it so coolly. It's so good to have him back.
The teams were;
Burnley: Brian Jensen, John Spicer, Clarke Carlisle, Steven Caldwell, Stephen Jordan, Wade Elliott, Joey Gudjonsson (James O'Connor 45), Chris McCann, Steve Jones (Alan Mahon 45), Robbie Blake (Ade Akinbiyi 78), Andy Gray. Sub not used: David Unsworth.
Oldham: Mark Crossley, Neil Eardley, John Thompson, Sean Gregan, Ryan Bertrand, Deane Smalley (Andy Liddell 21), Jean-Paul Kalala, Gary McDonald, Chris Taylor (Neal Trotman 85), Michael Ricketts (Matthew Wolfenden 74), Craig Davies. Subs not used: Les Pogliacomi, Kelvin Lomax.
Referee: Keith Hill (Herts).
Attendance: 7,317.