CHAIRMAN Barry Kilby has moved to soothe worried Burnley brows by insisting an FA Cup run could be the club's lifeline.

The cash-strapped Clarets are currently locked in a fight to fill a £700,000 black hole by the end of February and stave off the dreaded fear of administration.

No punches are being pulled in terms of seeking help from individuals and businesses to help the club through a trying time.

And forward-looking Kilby sees next week's FA Cup fourth round tie at home to Gillingham as one potential saviour in terms of swelling the Turf Moor coffers.

Kilby said: "It is now clear the position we find ourselves and I am glad the supporters know where we stand.

"We always said we would be totally honest with them and I would like to think that is the case in every aspect.

"Nothing has changed from what we reported at December's AGM, but things sometimes need to be put into context.

"A lot of football clubs find themselves in far worse debt than us and we are working hard behind the scenes to come up with a series of measures to see us through the shortfall.

"But one avenue that is still open is the FA Cup. A good result against Gillingham, with the supporters turning out in force to back us, would be a real boost.

"And with a little bit of luck we could then end up drawing Manchester United away in the fifth round and solving the short-term problem through a 40/40 split of a 60,000-plus gate."

Burnley chiefs will gather to discuss the present crisis at Thursday's planned board meeting.

The Clarets are presently losing around £12,000 every home game amid gloomy predictions of a £2.3m loss for the present financial year.

Chief executive Dave Edmundson, who hopes to announce the next stage of his battle to win back supporters next week, explained: "The rallying call has gone out.

"But behind the scenes the board meeting will include a full breakdown of all the facts and figures so we can decide the way forward and what we need to do to try and make things balance.

"Everything will be there in basic black and white. What we have to do now is colour things in."