IN closing last week's column, I suggested it was high time Robbie Blake showed Burnley's supporters why the club parted with a million pounds for his services.

Leaving Pride Park on Saturday afternoon, I couldn't help wondering if we had short-changed Bradford, such was the excellence of his performance.

For those unfortunates who were unable to make it to Derby, an insipid 45 minutes from the Clarets gave way to a commanding display in the second period.

And at its hub was Robbie Blake. Gone were the divers boots of a few weeks ago and in their place was something with an altogether lighter touch.

They may have been ballet pumps give the grace and elegance with which he danced around Derby's desperate defence.

This was, at long last, the real Robbie Blake - the one who we have be told would unlock defences, torment the opposition and win games for us.

The striker's renaissance was aided in no small part by the return to top form of Glen Little.

The winger has been a pale imitation of himself in recent weeks and quite rightly his loss of form meant a starting slot on the subs bench.

But within minutes of the second half kicking off at Derby it was clear Glen was back.

The cocky swagger had returned and he proved to be the catalyst for the Claret's revival.

Also worthy of a mention was Ian Moore. Lately the striker has spent the overwhelmingly majority of his time haring around in the manner of decapitated poultry, yet on Saturday his running was purposeful and carried significant threat.

His intelligent runs dragged defenders out of position, creating space for others to run into. On another day his efforts would have brought the reward of a goal.

Another pleading aspect of Burnley's Ram-raid was that once they had twigged that Gareth Taylor wasn't playing, the long ball game was eschewed in favour of passing the ball into feet. It was a joy to watch.

Blackpool themselves come to Turf Moor tonight with a reputation for playing neat, passing football. Let's hope that Burnley pick up from where they left off on Saturday, rather than trying to close the game down.

Player for player, the Clarets have the quality to emerge victorious for the clash.

Traditionally, under Ternent, Burnley cannot be said to have covered themselves in glory in the Worthington Cup.

This season of all seasons, it is imperative that they do.

The club have spoken frequently and lucidly about how hard they have been hit by ITV Digital's collapse - to the extent that many supporters are sick of hearing about it.

Tonight affords Burnley a good opportunity to give themselves a helping hand be making progress into the next round of competition.

Should the Clarets progress to the next stage, a favourable draw against one of the bigger Premiership outfits could prove to be very lucrative for the club. What greater incentive could there be?