A LITTLE over a week ago, a couple of thousand Burnley supporters filed into Pride Park fearing the worst.

Slouched at the foot of the table, the Clarets had one point, one goal and absolutely no form.

Three games later and the turnaround has been as dramatic as anything we are likely to witness at Turf Moor this season.

Over the last few days Burnley have escaped the relegation zone, progressed to a winnable tie in the next round of the Worthington Cup and scored seven goals from five different sources.

Most encouragingly, they have achieved all of this playing some wonderful football.

Saturday's victory over a modest Stoke City threw up a couple of reasons to be cheerful other than those already outlined.

Firstly Glen Little is now officially back to his swaggering, imperious best.

His cross for Papadopoulous winner was as good as anything David Beckham will deliver this season.

Secondly, for the first time in a long time, Burnley now have genuine competition for places in the forward line.

Saturday saw Ternent try a number of pairings up front. Pleasingly, they all worked.

Equally pleasing is the fact that each striker possesses different strengths.

Blake has trickery. Taylor has strength and is good in the air.

And whilst Moore and Papadopoulous are both pacey, the former uses his speed to drag defenders out of position, whilst the latter uses his to enhance his goalscoring instinct.

The Greek forward deserves a special mention.

A regular on the subs bench last season, Papadopoulous has seized the day.

His reading of Gareth Taylor's flick-ons and knock downs is impressive.

His reactions are razor sharp as evidenced by his predatory pounce following Phil Barnes' penalty save in the game against Blackpool. And in terms of enthusiasm, he is matched only by the wonderfully mad Arthur Gnohere.

For those who missed it, Arthur's latest piece of inspired cabaret occurred following his equaliser. Having celebrated his goal with the Burnley fans, he raced the length of the pitch to the Stoke supporters, ripped his shirt off and began an impromptu dance, waving his shirt at the travelling Stokies.

Yes, he was irresponsible, yes, it could have earned him a second yellow card. But more than that it was downright hilarious.

Not as hilarious as throwing a two-goal lead away against 10 men, but funny nonetheless.

Credit Arthur too for his timing. He headed us level slap bang in the middle of a celebratory chorus of "Delilah" from the Cricket Field stand.

Suffice to say, they saw the ball in their net, and they laughed no more.

On a darker note, rumours persist about the club falling deeper and deeper into financial trouble, with one national newspaper suggesting that we will cease to exist in a matter of weeks.

Such rumours may yet prove unfounded or untrue. But with a board meeting reported to have taken place prior to Saturday's game, something is clearly afoot.

Reduced prices for this evening's clash with Millwall, may put a couple of thousand extra on the gate.

It won't solve the bigger problem, but in times of need every little helps.