BURNLEY introduced a singing section for last night's match against Derby County to rouse fans' spirits. Reporter and Clarets novice RACHEL EXTANCE went to Turf Moor to soak up the atmosphere. . .

THE chants started slowly as fans worked their way through their repertoire until they found the old familiar refrain.

The old Longside may have been demolished but its spirit was rekindled for last night's Derby County match at Turf Moor.

But although Clarets fans were pleased to be singing shoulder to shoulder, they were a bit miffed at having to do it sitting down due to football's health and safety regulations.

Chris Edwards, 30, from Harle Syke, was a devoted fan of the Longside. He said: "They should take the seats away and have a small, controlled section of 1,000 or 1,500 people who want to stand up and sing.

"I used to love the Longside. You had No Man's Land in the middle between the two sets of fans and it created a bit of atmosphere."

Elaina and Martin Wilkinson travelled up from Loughborough to see the match. Martin, 36, has been a fan since 1971 but he said: "You can't sing when you're sitting down.

"If you're going to do it you need to start it at the beginning of the season so people who want to sing can choose to sit here.

"I wouldn't say we should have the Longside back because I think rebuilding the ground helped considerably to regenerate the club.

"This has done a lot to make it much more fan-friendly but I still miss the Longside."

But other fans were willing to give the 'singing section' - in NU3 of the James Hargreaves Stand - a chance.

Meanwhile a hardcore group of former Longsiders decided to stand proud at the top of the stand.

Two stewards braved the chants to tell them to sit down - only to turn on their heels as the whole stand rose to their feet in unity.

At kick-off, the singing section was in full voice and helped boost the atmosphere at the game.

But as the team's chances of victory on the pitch dwidled in the second half of a 2-0 defeat, the fans grew quieter and even rousing cries of 'No, Nay, Never' failed to last longer than a few seconds.

Another pair of long-standing fans willing to travel to cheer on their team were Richard Sutcliffe and Rod Munch from Lancaster. At half-time Richard said: "It's been all right so far but we need something to sing about.

"We haven't had any atmosphere at home games at all. Derby should be winning now. We need something on the pitch to keep the singing going."

Rod said: "People used to turn up early to come up with new chants but we haven't had a new one since about 1995. The atmosphere's become stale."

By the second half the stand had grown quiet bar angry shouts at various players.

Robbie Williams said Sing When You're Winning but Claret's vocal talent were leaving long before the final whistle.