IT IS one of football's most blindingly obvious maxims that if you don't concede goals, you don't lose matches. And if you don't lose matches, you have half a chance of being successful. So it is with Burnley at the moment.

Saturday's 0-0 draw at the JJB Stadium provided the Clarets with their third clean sheet of the year. In fact Burnley have conceded just one league goal in six hours of football in 2004.

This is in stark contrast to their Nationwide form up to Christmas, when Brian Jensen had to retrieve the ball from his own net on no less than 47 occasions. It is little wonder the Great Dane was said to be suffering from a bad case of net rash.

Key to this new-found defensive solidity, is the central defensive pairing of Mark McGregor and David May. Prior to the end of 2003, injuries and suspensions meant that Stan Ternent rarely fielded the same partnership twice at the heart of defence Over the past few weeks, May and McGregor have become used to playing alongside one another, and the relationship has blossomed.

The results are self-evident. All that is required now is for Burnley to start converting their league draws into wins -- something they haven't managed to do since December 6 last year when Sheffield United were beaten 3-2.

Meanwhile, something curious is happening at Turf Moor. A month ago, we were told by chief executive Dave Edmundson that Burnley Football Club was a little over a month away from possible administration. And not for one second do I doubt him.

Since then, Edmundson and his team have come up with a number of excellent initiatives and are to be congratulated for the pro-active attitude they have shown in their attempts to steady the ship. The fans have also rallied round with their own financial contributions and fund-raising ideas.

However, since then three players have arrived on loan at Turf Moor and with the exception of Bradley Orr, Burnley are reportedly footing at least part of the wage bill.

This does not make sense. Given the club's parlous financial state, surely any available funds should be going towards servicing the debt rather than adding to the squad however cheaply or temporarily. Sure, the squad is small and needs boosting, but surely the bottom line is that if one has no money, one has no money.

It may be that the £700,000 shortfall which needed making up by the middle of this month has now been sorted out. But that would seem unlikely. I'm sure I'm not the only supporter who would appreciate clarification.