WHEN Stan Ternent led Bury to the second division championship in 1997 he won a season long duel with Stockport County's Dave Jones.

On Sunday the two men will be going head to head again, this time at the top of the first division, as Wolves take on the Clarets at Turf Moor.

While the two men were rivals on the pitch they were friends off it and Jones said: "I remember we had played Bury at Edgeley Park and he came in for a drink with me after the game.

"What he didn't realise was that the team bus had gone and so I ended up having to give him a lift home."

There will be no offers of help from Jones this weekend, at least until after the game, as Wolves look to end a run of two successive home defeats.

Last night a Nathan Blake goal gave them a point at The Hawthorns that was enough to take them back to the top of the table but just two points above the Clarets and Jones is not surprised to see Burnley doing so well.

"Stan has done an excellent job wherever he has gone," said Jones. "It is good for him to be at a big club like Burnley, a club with potential.

"Whichever division they are in you would expect Burnley to be there or thereabouts, it is that sort of club. It has been through the low years but Stan has brought them back up.

"He lives in the town and knows the place inside out. I have a lot of respect for him both as a man and a manager."

Much has been written and said about the problems that Jones has had in recent years, dark days that only ended when he walked free from court less than a year ago having been completely cleared of charges of child abuse.

When the police first knocked on his door he was making a success of managing Southampton in the Premier League and was regarded as one of the best young managers in the country.

Having initially had the full support of the Saints board he was eventually moved out to make way for former England coach Glenn Hoddle and there was no work until he finally won his day in court.

"I know it is something that will always crop up from now on," he said. "It doesn't worry because it is just something that went on in my life. All I can do is get on with my job."

Now, with Wolves flying high, he is desperate to get back into the Premiership and remind people of his talents.

"Things are going alright here, we have had a very big turnaround," he said. "That was the first thing I decided when I came in in January and we are in the first throes of doing that but have only done about 60 per cent of what we want to do.

"People have said we have spent a lot of money but I think that is just because we have spent it all in one go.

"I knew that I wasn't going to be able to get where I want to be by getting people on frees.

"There is a lot of money in this division but I don't think that £2million for Mark Kennedy is a bad buy. At the moment I am building a football club but it will take time."

As well as signing Kennedy he has added the collective talents of Nathan Blake, Colin Cameron, Shaun Newton and Alex Rae.

The Midlands club has the same proud history as the Clarets but with Jack Hayward's millions it has much more purchasing power.

Jones and Ternent showed they can have success on a shoestring as they shared promotion four years ago.