BURNLEY'S defeat at Whaddon Road on Sunday may have been labelled an FA Cup upset but, with Cheltenham being the home of National Hunt racing, it was no surprise to form followers.

It is inexplicable but, for whatever reason, over the past five seasons Stan Ternent's teams have struggled in the dark days of winter.

No wonder the manager brought up the topic of playing summer football in the wake of the postponed games against Rotherham and Bradford over the festive period.

If that is the bad news, here is the good. They may drop a few places around December, January and February but every year they seem to come back better and stronger, finishing with a flourish and passing the also-rans.

Even in his promotion winning seasons with both the Clarets and Bury, Ternent saw his sides struggle at this time of the year.

The Shakers may have gone up to the first division as champions in 1997 but between December 14 and March 8 they played 10 games and took just 13 points.

A year later in the 14 matches between the start of November and beginning of February they collected just eight points.

The following season was Ternent's first at Turf Moor and the slump lasted even longer. The Clarets played 15 matches between December 12 and March 20 and took just 11 points to see them staring relegation to the third division squarely in the face.

The subsequent promotion winning year did see an improvement but even then a return of 18 points from 12 games between Boxing Day and March 7 would not have been enough to go up had it not been for the brilliant run that followed the defeat at Luton Town.

Last season was about as bad as it gets. A meagre haul of just four points from the ten games between December 9 and February 17 ultimately cost the Clarets a place in the play-offs.

They finished one place and two points behind sixth placed West Brom despite a typically strong finish to the campaign.

The current run sees Burnley without a league win since beating Stockport in the middle of December and with just two points and two goals from four games, in addition to the Cup defeat in the Cotswolds.

The Clarets have a run of eight games in 24 days in February, kicking off with Sunday evening's televised game against West Brom at Turf Moor.

Spring may not have yet sprung but Ternent will be hoping that game will see the end of the winter blues and the start of the push for promotion.