CONCEDING, not scoring goals has been Burnley's problem all season.

And yet again that was evident as Watford romped to victory at Turf Moor last Monday.

But while the goals are still going in at the right end, what wouldn't we give for a striker with all the predatory instincts of Robert Earnshaw?

Cardiff's Welsh frontman is next in line to take a few pot-shots at the Clarets defence - and must fancy his chances of ending a rare run of three games without a goal.

But his record over the past few years speaks for itself. You don't score nigh on 60 goals in two years unless you have an eye for goal.

It's something Robbie Blake has shown but somehow Ian Moore has to now start chipping in with more goals to help the cause over the coming weeks.

His commitment and running of the channels cannot be faulted, but with a back line as porous as Burnley's at present, it is going to need more than Blake's goals to keep the Clarets afloat.

You need a striker to be picking up the pieces and scoring off scraps and that's something we sadly miss, but that Earnshaw thrives on.

I've watched his rise with interest.

He hardly fits the template of the archetypal striker, with such a noticeable lack of height.

But he is alive and bright in the box and worth his weight in gold to a First Division club.

You can't coach ability like he has - it's something pure and natural.

However, I'm yet to be convinced he could make it at Premiership level. No doubt someone will be looking at his goals tally and thinking he can step up again and solve a goalscoring problem in the top flight, but the gap is absolutely huge.

So many have tried it and not quite managed it - Bobby Zamora immediately springs to mind - and you have to have an all-round game in your armoury to play at the very top.

Having said all that, he certainly has to be respected at Ninian Park tomorrow as Stan's boys try to put Monday's misery behind them.

It would be easy to write this game off and concentrate on the two home games next week that look like defining the whole season.

Certainly Derby at home in just over a week jumps out as a crucial game for both sides.

But the home form is pretty appalling at the moment and maybe the players can relax away from home and dig deep to find a better performance.

It's certainly worked in the last three games, at Nottingham Forest, Bradford and Walsall and I see no reason to think that, given the right attitude, it can't happen again.

The die has been cast and there is no turning back.

There are five games to go and every minute of every one is going to be a nerve-wracking experience.

Four points from the next two games at Cardiff and at home to Wimbledon would be fantastic.

Give me three right now and I'd gladly take them!