AFTER three straight defeats Clarets boss Stan Ternent demanded his players improved - and they did!

He called on them to give the home fans something to shout about after five successive away games - and they did!

He asked them to buck up their ideas big style - and they did!

Sadly the one request they could not deliver was to be more ruthless in front of goal and as a result they lost for the fourth successive game.

If only they could be as ruthless in front of goal as Leicester's OG king Frank Sinclair. It somehow summed up the night that it was the hapless defender who notched the Clarets only goal in the 92nd minute, succeeding where the home side had failed.

The 31-year-old is creating quite a video nasty of his own, the latest blooper seeing him divert Glen Little's low cross beyond Ian Walker after a clever quick free kick by Steve Davis.

But by then it was game over with two goals from two Muzzy Izzet corners in the space of four minutes. First Paul Dickov claimed the final touch after a Matt Elliott header in the 79th minute, then Trevor Benjamin headed home a much cleaner effort to wrap up the win.

It was hard luck on a Burnley side that showed six changes to the side that crumbled at Walsall on Saturday. Five of the men who came in, Robbie Blake, Glen Little, Steve Davis Dean West and Arthur Gnohere will have been desperate to prove they should be back in the manager's plans while Lee Briscoe was back after illness.

The change in personnel certainly seem to have the desired impact and Leicester boss Micky Adams was clearly unsurprised that it was a much improved display by the Clarets.

"Stan had wound his troops up before the game and rightly so," he said. "He was looking for a reaction from them which I thought he got.

"We talked about that beforehand and we knew we had to get our attitude right and it was good."

The tongue lashings from the boss were merited and after the disappointment of the past three games it was essential that Burnley began brightly and they did just that. Little and Blake were buzzing about all over the place, knocking the ball into feet and moving well.

The home side had much the better of the first half but could not convert any of the presentable chances they made for themselves. Perhaps Sinclair should have played from the start.

"We didn't get a break all night,' moaned Ternent, "until we got an opportunity right at the end. We created some good opportunities."

It was not for lack of trying that they did not find the net, indeed the two man of the match awards went to the front pair of Blake and Ian Moore.

Twice Moore's searing pace got him into shooting positions but he was wide once and denied by Ian Walker on the other occasion. It was an all too rare test for the former England keeper.

But it was Blake who had the best Burnley chance before the break, jinking past a defender after the ball broke to him following good work by Little, but he fired over the bar 11 minutes before half-time.

Despite being on the back foot for much of the half it was Leicester who had the clearest opportunity a couple of minutes later, Dickov failing to connect properly with Nicky Summerbee's low centre from the right.

Sub Summerbee had come on when Brian Deane limped off in the 21st minute, James Scowcroft moving alongside Dickov in attack. There was no doubt the Burnley defence will have been relieved to see the back of his muscular presence.

But even when he was on the pitch, chances at both ends were at a premium although both Deane and the suspended Gareth Taylor would have loved to have been on the end of Dean West's floated cross in first half stoppage time.

After the break the pattern of play did not change. Burnley still dominated the game, Moore's pace and Blake's skill continued to trouble the international defensive partnership of Elliott and Gerry Taggart who are at their happiest when the ball is coming down with snow on it.

Sadly for Burnley the ball did keep going too high from the boot of the strikers, notably Blake. Jonny Wilkinson would be happy to put the ball over the bar as often as Blake did, be it from free kicks, volleys, left foot or right.

The one time he did hit the target, latching on to a free kick from West that dropped over the defence, his initial back header was saved, as was his follow-up.

The players were certainly giving their all, closing down the Foxes and forcing a number of mistakes and hurried passes. Drissa Diallo made some sharp tackles, Davis seemed to enjoy playing alongside him and Gnohere was certainly relishing being back in action, galloping forward to support his colleagues.

Given the display, the manner of the goals conceded was all the more galling. Managers and coaches hate conceding goals from set-pieces and those corners will have hurt.

But there was enough tenacity and talent shown to suggest that, despite the defeat, the Clarets might just have turned the corner after the bad run created by the defeat at Watford.

The FA Cup run began with victory over Grimsby, perhaps a successful run in to the end of the season will start with a win against the Mariners on Saturday.

BURNLEY 1

Scorer: Sinclair og 90

LEICESTER CITY 2

Scorer: Dickov 79, Benjamin 83

At Turf Moor Att: 14,504