"IT'S a marathon," they say, "not a sprint."

And if that's the case, Burnley resemble a runner hitting the wall half a mile from the end of the race.

They are stumbling toward the finishing line rather than coming home at a canter.

And whilst the Clarets sat in the Milton End would not have felt this was Paradise Lost, they would certainly have been a little concerned about their side's ability to reach the promised land.

There is no doubt that the race for the play-offs will go right to the wire. With only three fixtures remaining there are just three points separating fourth placed Burnley and ninth placed Preston. It is impossibly close to call. It may well be that one more win will cement a top six finish for the Clarets, which given recent form may be just as well.

Yet whilst the Clarets are struggling for form, they can at least draw a modicum of consolation from the remarkable game of "after you, Claude" being played out amongst those teams pushing for the play-offs. There seems to be a remarkable reluctance amongst the chasing pack to grasp the nettle. Yet Burnley's form does remain a concern.

They are unconvincing at the moment -- edgy in defence, hurried and disjointed in midfield. This is not the same team that played the swashbuckling football which took the Clarets to the top of the table earlier this season.

Yet all is not doom and gloom. Burnley, for all their difficulties, remain fourth. And a play-off berth is still theirs to throw away.

Also, in landing David Johnson, however temporarily, Ternent has brought a quality player to the club. His fourth goal in five games was a typical DJ strike -- devastating pace combined with tricky feet. Given the size of the squad coupled with the ITV Digital fiasco, it is surely unlikely Burnley will be able to afford the striker, allegedly commanding big wages at Notts Forest.

It would be worth cutting some deadwood to bring him in.

Another plus was that we may have sussed how to get the best from Paul Gascoigne. Introduced for the last 20 minutes, his influence on the game grew minute by minute, until the closing stages saw him dominating the play in the same way that Portsmouth's Robert Prosnecki had done earlier.

But for now, as the finishing tape draws ever closer, let's hope the Clarets find a burst of pace from somewhere and cross that line in style.