SUNDAY'S match against Wolves was the most disappointing Clarets display since I started covering them early last month.

As I travelled down to Gillingham on Monday night after work I wondered how Burnley might get on in the "vital" game the next night.

Which Burnley would turn up at the Priestfield Stadium? The one that had won its first four away games or the one that had lost four on the trot away from Turf Moor.

But writing this, five and a half hours before kick-off I am acutely aware of how unimportant football can be made to look.

This morning I got a phone call to tell me about the tragic accident that had robbed Burnley's assistant manager Sam Ellis of his 28-year-old son Tim.

Minutes earlier I had been musing over whether Stan Ternent would line-up 3-5-2, 4-4-2, or even perhaps go with a lone striker.

Now I am just wondering how the players, the manager and the rest of the staff will be able to focus on the match with this tragedy so close.

The reason I am not going to refer to last night's match is because, in the great scheme of things, it does not matter.

I love football, it is a passion that has been with me since I first got to know about the great game when I was five years old.

It has made me laugh, it has made me cry and, at times, it has made me as mad as Hell.

But no emotion it has ever engendered can match that being felt by Sam Ellis, his family and his friends today.

I've not known the man long but I like him.

He has made me welcome at the football club and given me help when I have needed it.

I also know people within the game who have known him a good while longer than I have who speak very highly of him on both a personal and professional level.

I doubt there are many people reading this who have not had some setback in life, such as the loss of a loved one and so it is possible to empathise.

It is a simple fact of life that life will go on. That was proved at 7.45 last night when the match at Gillingham kicked off. Points will continue to be played for, matches will be won and lost.

But as the whistle blew all the thoughts of those in the Burnley shirts and on the bench were still with the man who should have been standing on the touchline in his trademark shorts, shouting instructions and encouragement.

I have no idea when he will be back at the club, it will be a personal decision he will make with his family and there is no doubt the club will give him as long as he needs.

He is a big man, with a big presence and he will be missed while on compassionate leave.

But for now all thoughts remain with Sam Ellis and his family as once again Bill Shankly's famous quote that football is more important than life and death is proved to be complete and utter nonsense .