STAN Ternent's place in the dug-out at the Walkers Stadium will be taken by Chris Barker, a Clarets fan who allowed his heart to rule his head.

Barker was successful with a bid of £631 lodged just three minutes before the 4pm deadline and he admitted: "That's not bad to say I was only going to go as high as £400.

"Then it got to £500 and I thought that's it but I got a text message from my daughter Jessica saying go for it. My heart was saying yes but my head was saying should I or shouldn't I."

His success was a real family effort as his son Justin was the man doing his bidding for him on the computer.

"He was saying that I was mad when I told him to keep going," he laughed. "My wife Antoinette has supported me though, but I might be checking the post for divorce papers next week."

And the 49-year-old, who will be 50 on New Year's Eve, admitted: "I could not think of a better way to celebrate it."

Chris had spent all last weekend regretting that he had not heard about the auction that Scott Atkinson won for the manager's seat for the home game against Walsall. Scott, from Chesterfield, paid £561 for the privilege and admitted: "It was a brilliant experience."

Chris, a season ticket holder for the Bob Lord Stand, explained: "A few of us had been saying it was a brilliant chance to do a once in a lifetime thing and we all thought Scott was a lucky guy. So when I heard about it this week I thought I had to go for it.

"I did not even start bidding until yesterday and there were three minutes to go when Jessica persuaded me to keep going. But I still did not know if someone else would come in and beat me. My feet are still not on the floor and I was shaking."

The first thing he had to do was swap his shift as he was due to be working this afternoon at a college for driving instructors in Stockport.

"I waited until I knew that I had won the bid and then I rang them and changed it, no problem," he said.

"I know it is a lot of money but it is worth it. The club needs the money anyway so what the heck!"

Ternent will return to the dug-out for the trip to Ipswich Town on Tuesday night but the two auctions for his seat have raised a combined total of £1,192 and given two loyal fans the experience of a lifetime.