STAN Ternent has ended a taxing week at Turf Moor by insisting that his side can still mount a play-off challenge.

Burnley turned their attention to an FA Cup third-round clash at home to Scunthorpe United this afternoon having seen their League campaign hit the buffers with five straight defeats.

That run has taken Ternent's men down to 10th place in Division One and eight points behind Nottingham Forest, who currently occupy the last play-off spot.

However, Burnley have two games in hands on David Platt's side and have played one game fewer than all but three of the sides above them.

And Ternent insisted that if his team can nip their decline in the bud and keep key players free from injury and suspension they can still aim for the top end of the table.

"I think they are capable of maintaining a top-half position in this League.

"And with a little bit of luck and if we can stop this run of defeats there's no reason why we shouldn't be in the top six. It's all still there for us. The season still has a long way to go.

"The players are determined to get out of this run we find ourselves in," said the Clarets boss.

Burnley have made things harder for themselves by failing to pick up any points since the start of December and the immediate priority is to get enough on the board to avoid any possibility of getting dragged towards the relegation frame. Chairman Barry Kilby is anxious to avoid that scenario but believes the Clarets are still well placed following promotion last season.

He said: "It's obviously a concern when you lose matches on the trot but I think we are doing well.

"What we are doing is just concentrating on stopping the run to make sure we get that first victory and move off the 38 points I've been looking at for a few weeks.

"We have got to make sure it doesn't become a slide, although in the last two matches we didn't deserve to lose.

"Blackburn and Bolton I thought were better on the day but against Barnsley we were by far the better side and gave a daft goal away and against Wolves a draw would have been a fair result.

"We also had five players out and that makes a very big difference.

"There's no panic. Nobody wants it to develop into a slide but if we start winning again we are doing very well."

There was unrest among sections of the supporters following Burnley's third successive home defeat on Monday.

But Kilby believes the critics must have short memories.

"We've come a long way in a short space of time and nobody feels it (the disappointment) more than the club," he added.

"Our own success is working against us. People's expectations have been lifted from where we were but having lost five in a row we are still just three points behind Preston. We would have settled for this at the start."

And the chairman remains firmly behind Ternent and his plans.

"Stan has done a great job in getting us where we are," he said.

Meanwhile, Birmingham City are no nearer letting Dele Adebola leave St Andrews.

City boss Trevor Francis is keen on Derby forward Dean Sturridge. But the Blues may not be able to afford his wages and if even he did sign the feeling is that Adebola would still be a wanted man at the club.

That being the case, Ternent's claim that the big striker is the only player on the transfer list who isn't transferable would still appear to be spot on.