LOOK back through the history of any football club and you will find it littered with turning points.

Events which although may only appear to be of minor significance at the time, turn out to be defining moments in the club's life. Burnley is no exception.

The past 20 years alone provide ample evidence of this. Steve Taylor's penalty miss in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup against Sheffield Wednesday in 1983 seemed to act as a cue for the club to lose the subsequent replay, be relegated the same season and eventually slip to the foot of the Football League.

More recently the arrivals of Tom Cowan and Paul Cook during Ternent's troubled first season in charge, are widely regarded as being the catalyst which went a long way to turning the Clarets' fortunes around.

And hopefully time will show another turning point as being five to five on the January 6, 2001.

It was about that time that Lennie Johnrose climbed highest in the crowded Scunthorpe penalty area, and thumped home a close-range header to earn Burnley an FA Cup replay a week today.

Heaven knows the Clarets have needed a break from somewhere over the past few weeks, and on Saturday the FA Cup was generous enough to cast a little of its magic Burnley's way.

Crucially, the Clarets have brought their losing sequence to an end.

And hopefully, this will provide the players with a psychological boost to return to the kind of form which propelled them so high up the table earlier in this campaign.

There are other signs that the club's fortunes may be changing for the better.

Both Lee Briscoe and Glen Little are edging closer to full fitness. It is no coincidence that Burnley's recent slump occurred while injury robbed the side of two of its best performers.

And after a demanding December, the fixture list does not appear quite as intimidating.

Having faced four top 10 sides last month, which included three consecutive derby day defeats, the Clarets lock horns with some of the division's lesser lights.

Over the next few weeks, the likes of Barnsley, Crystal Palace and Huddersfield visit Turf Moor while trips to Crewe and Grimsby offer Burnley the opportunity to pick up the points on the road.

And if Lennie Johnrose's goal really has changed the Clarets luck we'll have an FA Cup tie against Bolton to look forward to. Here's hoping.