BURNLEY extended their unbeaten run to ten games despite failing to score in a home match for the first time this season.

In their 25th league game of the season, it was the first without goals as the free-scoring Clarets failed to find a way past a determined Millwall side that is also fighting for promotion.

And for the large crowd, who opted to put last minute Christmas shopping to one side in the hope of seeing a seventh straight victory, it was a game that taught them a valuable lesson.

When you are top of the league you become a scalp and club's are likely to come to Turf Moor in search of a prized point.

That was certainly the case for Millwall who may have defended like Lions but attacked like lambs.

It was not until well into the second half that they actually got a shot on target but David Livermore's free kick would not have beaten the most rotund of Santas.

In fact one of the big man's little elves could comfortably have stood in for Nik Michopoulos who was under greater risk from frost bite than from the visiting attack.

"Being top of the league does present you with different problems," admitted Burnley boss Stan Ternent."But the players are coping really well with the pressures."

The Clarets certainly created all the good chances in a match that they never looked like losing and came within an inch or two of winning.

In the recent home games against Grimsby and Watford, a goal in the first three minutes was enough for victory and on Saturday it was so nearly a goal in the last three that won it.

Not for the first time this season Gareth Taylor made a nuisance of himself in the box and the previously composed defence looked rattled.

Sean Dyche turned the ball back towards Tony Warner in goal but the keeper had to dive full length to palm the ball away and avoid an own goal.

The reprieve looked certain to be short lived as the ball broke to Alan Moore just six yards from goal but at an acute angle.

His shot was lifted well over the prone keeper but crashed against the bar and out to safety, leaving Ternent to reflect on what might have been.

It would have been a deserved victory and in a barnstorming finish the Clarets forced a string of corners as Millwall clung on to their point with dogged determination.

Crosses rained into the box but with Dyche and skipper Stuart Nethercott in impressive form there was to be no late winner.

The booking for cult hero Arthur Gnohere seemed to sum up the frustration of the home side. He had to be held back by team mates as he got into an argument following a foul on defender Matt Lawrence.

But that was an isolated flashpoint in a game that never really came to the boil. Perhaps that was because from an early stage it was clear that the Londoners were going to be happy to return south with a point, so much so that Warner was guilty of time wasting from the early minutes of the second half.

He regularly took an age to take his goal kicks and referee Neale Barry had to point to his watch on a number of occasions.

Had Burnley managed to get their noses in front it would have changed the game and made it a more entertaining spectacle and, as well as hitting the bar, Moore was involved in most of the good chances.

Before the break he really should have done better after a lovely bit of play involving Tony Grant, Glen Little and Lee Briscoe ended with the full back pulling the ball back to tee up Moore who was all alone inside the area.

He pulled the trigger but sadly the shot sailed well over the bar and the chance was gone.

In the second half he made a better fist of two other shooting opportunities from outside the box but put one down Warner's throat and the other a whisker past the post.

But it was in form striker Taylor who wasted arguably the clearest opportunity when he failed to connect with the ball when the goal was at his mercy.

Again Moore was involved as he set up Kevin Ball for a shot that came back off the keeper. Taylor, who has headed home nine times this season, completely missed his kick and it was left to Ball to have another go, his second shot cannoning off a defender.

Such flurries of activity were few and far between until the dying minutes but there was still plenty to enjoy in the game, not least an impressive return by Tony Grant.

The midfield maestro was missed against Stockport a week earlier and, after failing to find the target with his first two passes of the game, he went on to produce a string of great balls.

The promise that was first recognised as a young player at Goodison is really beginning to be fulfilled and he is clearly enjoying being a regular starter in the side, a luxury he never really had at either Everton or Manchester City.

Not only did he used the ball well, he dug in and won some great tackles, not least the sliding effort that stopped Paul Ifill in his tracks and turned a worrying break into a promising position for the Clarets.

Ternent resisted the temptation to unleash his in-form Greek striker Dimitri Papadopoulos, only making the one change by introducing Paul Weller for Ian Moore.

And the sub might have done better when found in space late on but he did not react quickly enough and once again the chance was lost.

It really was that sort of day and, with a string of promotion rivals still to visit Turf Moor, the ability to break down stubborn defences will be a key factor in deciding where this season of immense promise will end.

BURNLEY 0 MILLWALL 0

Attendance: 16,131

At Turf Moor