NOT everyone is moaning about the atrocious weather.

As a Burnley player, I am well used to September arriving and bringing with it the reality of a long winter training down at Gawthorpe - or as the players call it - 'The Bog!'

It only needs the odd drop of rain to make the training pitches sticky, so when we get a sustained spell of rain like the past couple of weeks, it becomes unplayable.

That leaves the nice warm alternative of the gymnasium - something I certainly don't moan about.

It might not suit everyone, but it's a darned sight batter than dragging yourself through a sea of mud every morning.

I'm pretty sure it can't help in terms of injuries either. You pretty much know that you will be training on a bog all winter long and, at its worst, you only need to do a warm-up session and your legs feel as heavy as lead.

It's a purely personal view, but I'm sure it's no coincidence that we have had our fair share of hamstrings and calf strains down the years.

So for now, the gym will do just fine. I must like it - I even went in on my day off!

What is also noticeable from training down at the Turf is how our own pitch is holding up during this dreadful weather.

There can't be many better pitches around at the moment - and we saw from last weekend at Wigan how a bad pitch can wreck any hope of playing your normal passing game.

We have not had too many midweek games in recent months either, and that seems to be helping both the pitch and the lads.

The grass has time to recover and the players know that more often than not, we have a full week between games to get rid of any aches, pains and niggles.

There is a belief that midweek games keep you ticking over, but with our squad being so small I really feel that's something we are better avoiding wherever possible.

Last week saw the welcome addition of three new faces, but one more consequence of not training on 'The Bog' is that I haven't really had much opportunity to see any of the new lads in action yet.

To be perfectly honest, Paul Rachubka is the only one of the three I had heard of and he will provide the Hulk with good competition.

I thought Neil Wood had a terrific debut at Wigan in pretty trying circumstances. On a pitch like that, you just have to try to get through it and, if he's selected again on Saturday, I'm sure he will appreciate a slicker surface to play on.

As for Bradley Orr, he is still waiting for his chance following the postponement of the reserve game in midweek. Because he was scheduled to play, I haven't seen much of him in serious training, but the fact he is here from a Premiership club tells you all you need to know regarding his, and indeed the other lads' all-round ability.