Division Two: Burnley 0 Wigan Athletic 0 - Pete Oliver's match verdict

PERHAPS BBC Football Correspondent Mike Ingham should have been at Turf Moor on Saturday.

Suggesting, as he did over the airwaves at tea-time, that Ian Wright's receipt of the MBE illustrates the ills in sport and modern-day society as a whole, appeared to be as unnecessary as it was over the top.

Burnley's new signing may have been no angel throughout his prolific career.

But his place in the New Year's Honours list is old news and after a difficult time at Celtic he is entitled to a fresh start with the Clarets.

Many others may have just accepted the loot in Glasgow and poured all his time and energies into his television work.

But Wright clearly loves the game enough to put his reputation on the line in the Second Division and that was evident for all to see in his Burnley debut as he proved the old adage 'form is temporary, class is permanent.'

"He wants to play football and that's his first love. That's what he wants to do," insisted manager Stan Ternent.

"He's a football person. He has other commitments now and he's a natural at that as well, but he's a top drawer professional footballer.

"He's one of the legends of modern-day football. He's a leading goalscorer at the highest level.

"The most important things is that he has so much to offer and I'm delighted he decided to join Burnley. In the long run, it will prove a step in the right direction for Burnley Football Club."

The goals may not have flowed as freely as Wright would have liked north of the border.

But he believes that they will now come in harness with a run of games and few who saw him on the prowl against Wigan would doubt that. Only two excellent saves from Roy Carroll prevented the former England striker from delivering what most in a fantastic crowd of 20,435 had come to see as Burnley turned up the heat in the second half.

And Wright did done enough to prove that his signing will do more than just raise the profile of the Clarets and have the cash tills ringing.

He may be 36, but physically and mentally he looked sharp.

There was never a hint of going through the motions as he constantly looked for the ball, peeled off his man, linked play with a colleague and ran menacingly at the Wigan defence.

He didn't shirk a challenge, neatly averting one heavy Stuart Balmer tackle early on and later collecting a couple of bangs for his trouble.

Once in the first half, Turf Moor rose as one as he left four men in his wake before finally running into trouble at the edge of the box.

And once the service in the penalty area improved after the break, Wright confirmed that he still knows where the target is.

He unleashed half-a-dozen efforts, only one of which would go down as decent chance spurned, as the Clarets looked for a 10th successive home win that would have drawn them level with Wigan in third place.

"I was a little bit disappointed in the end because we could have nicked it. In the second half I think we were the better side, created numerous chances but unfortunately one wouldn't go in," Ternent added. Burnley were perhaps too anxious to live up to the massive expectation before half-time and didn't allow themselves to settle into a rhythm, although had Wright managed to squeeze his angled shot past the legs of Balmer after just six minutes the place would have exploded. As it was Wigan looked just as incisive as they broke threateningly, although Paul Crichton didn't have a shot to save.

The Latics obviously give little away on their travels as they are yet to lose away from home. But they can't have lived more dangerously than they did in the second 45 minutes as Burnley began to open up the visitors' defence by utilising the wide areas and getting the ball to Wright in more advanced positions where he will cause optimum damage.

Glen Little, showing more of his true colours, hooked in a cross which the new boy headed tamely at Carroll.

And the same combination then went close to breaking the deadlock again when a quickly-taken free-kick ended with Wright pulling an effort just wide. With the crowd responding to Burnley's tightening grip, and with John Mullin and the immaculate Paul Cook running midfield, everything centred on Wright.

Wigan, to their credit, defended bravely but it took a stunning save from Carroll to deny the master-striker when he connected with a thumping volley 20 minutes from time.

Two minutes later followed the moment of the match as Steve Davis picked out his new team-mate with a lovely cross-field pass. Wright's chest control on the run was superb and from his angled drive Carroll made another fine save, Little injuring himself as he tried to convert the rebound.

Nothing had been seen of Wigan as an attacking force after the break as Davis, Mitchell Thomas and Ian Cox again stood firm.

But a momentary lapse in the dying stages almost undid all of Burnley's good work only for Simon Haworth to miss the target when completely in the clear.

There was still the chance for Wright to try one audacious chip which dipped just over before with the last kick of the game Thomas missed a golden opportunity when firing against the bar.

'If only it had been Wright' was the collective reaction. But he and others, including Andy Payton, have time to keep the Clarets' promotion dream alive.

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