AS Craig Brown admits to reading Stan Ternent's book, the image conjured up is of the Preston boss settling down for an enjoyable few hours in front of a log fire, wearing slippers and accompanied by a single Malt.

However, knowing the steely Scot, it's far more likely he was scanning every paragraph for any minute chink in the Ternent armour ahead of tomorrow's eagerly-awaited Lancashire derby.

Brown's friendly demeanour masks a manager determined to prove himself in domestic football south of the border after eight years on the international stage with Scotland.

And if that means getting one over on a wise old head like Ternent, then no stone is left unturned.

Brown said: "I don't normally like to talk about other teams, but I have the utmost respect for Stan.

"I've even read his book and I like his style because he's the kind of character that makes the game so interesting.

"I respect him, but there can be no complacency on my part because a top six place is still our objective at the expense of everything else."

Brown admits genuine surprise at the intensity of the Burnley/North End rivalry following his first experiences of the encounter last season.

He added: "I didn't quite realise the depth of feeling between the two clubs until I came down here last year.

"I'm used to a Glasgow derby, which is a nice friendly fixture, and when I came down here I found the two games pretty intense.

"I especially saw that at Deepdale, when both sets of fans came over onto the pitch after goals at either end.

"But there was nothing nasty about it and I hope it's a reasonably friendly rivalry. It certainly is with the management and players and hopefully that will be the way it is with the fans on Saturday."

Certainly Burnley will encounter familiar faces in the Deepdale camp. Ex-Burnley assistant manager Clive Middlemass is chief scout at North End, where Lee Briscoe now plies his trade after leaving Turf Moor last summer.

And in what must surely be a first, the entire Preston defence has direct connections with Ternent.

Full back Graham Alexander reportedly almost joined the Clarets on deadline day four years ago, while Marlon Broomes spent the summer on trial at Turf Moor 18 months ago.

And both centre backs, Chris Lucketti and Michael Jackson, formed the spine of the Bury side managed by Ternent that won two successive promotions in 1996 and 1997.

Jackson admitted: "We all go back a long way and it doesn't surprise me what Stan has achieved at Burnley because he has great attention to detail and first and foremost he's winner.

"That's one thing you have to have to be a good manager, and when you look at the teams he's been successful with on his CV, he has had quite a few promotions.

"I have a lot of time for him because he took over at Bury when I was a 20-year-old kid and he taught me how to play the position and how responsible I had to be.

"You learn the hard way and he made Chris and I grow up quickly in that position, so we both owe him a lot."

Tellingly, Jackson subsequently knows what riles the Clarets chief. And he will out to raise the temperature in the Burnley dressing room by shutting out Robbie Blake and Co tomorrow lunchtime.

Jackson, 30, added: "I know for a fact Stan is a stickler for clean sheets because he hates conceding goals.

"He would rather win 1-0 any day and if you concede anything, he makes sure you know about it.

"I look at the Burnley side and I see Burnley some good players, such as Blake and Luke Chadwick.

"Robbie, in particular has great movement and makes defenders go into areas that defenders don't want to go.

"It becomes a bit cat and mouse, but Robbie has got his goals this year and the last thing we want to do is let him turn and run at you because he has two good feet.

"We have to work on that and make sure we nullify their creative players because if we do that we have enough in our side to go and win this game."