BURNLEY fans who made the trip to the Isle of Man got the chance to meet their heroes yesterday afternoon -- and even tried to learn a different language so they could chat to all of them.

The Clarets players took an hour out of training on the Isle of Man to meet the fans who made the short journey from Lancashire.

And Phil Miller's party, who have come over on the official Burnley FC trip, even bought a Greek phrase book so they could chat to Burnley's Greek goalkeeper Nik Michopoulos!

"We bought it yesterday morning and learnt a few phrases. It was going okay until he corrected our pronounciation on a few words but I think he appreciated it!"

The group also managed to attract the attention of a couple of other Burnley stars.

"I had a chat with Graham Branch and Paul Weller. Paul knows us anyway as we live near him and Andy Payton also came over and we got to talk to him," said Phil.

"It is nice to see that Burnley are not letting the split between the players and the fans get too big as it has at some of the clubs. The club have made an effort to bring the players here and all the fans who got their chance to talk to them and have their photographs taken have all appreciated it."

One couple, John and Anne Montgomery, from Read, have just celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary and Anne will remember it as a special occasion as she got to meet Clarets skipper Steve Davis.

"Anne likes Steve so I think she enjoyed meeting him," said her husband John, who also took the opportunity to grab a couple of autographs from the Clarets players.

And Derek Roberts, from Burnley, had a good chat with Davis, Branch and new signing Mark McGregor about whether the Clarets can once more challenge for a promotion spot.

"It was great to get an opportunity to just have a talk to them," he said.

"I asked them about their aspirations for the forthcoming season and we had a discussion about what the fans expected and what the players expected.

"Last season exceeded my wildest dreams, I would have been happy with just escaping relegation but I don't want to put too much pressure on them this season.

"But saying that, the players all seem very up for it. They don't seem to think they will struggle this season and from my point of view it is great to hear that!"

The 'meet the players' day was the idea of Burnley's Financial Services and Marketing manager Elaine Whittingham, who organised the official club trip with Stan Ternent's PA Angela Booth, to bring the players closer to the fans.

"We knew the fans would love to get the chance to talk to the players and it was great that the Burnley management brought them all over," said Elaine.

It looks like the supporters will be in for a long week as Burnley seem favourites to reach the final of the four-team Isle of Man tournament on Saturday.

They won their first match 2-0 against Wrexham on Sunday night and face the Isle of Man tonight -- a semi-professional side whose victory over the Clarets last season was their first win over a professional club in their 110-year history. They will be looking to avenge that defeat.