A fan's-eye view from Turf Moor, with Stephen Cummings

THERE exists an apocryphal tale of an elderly woman who visits her local doctor. She tells him she is worried but cannot put her finger on exactly why this should be. Her health appears excellent for a lady of her age, she has been happily married for 50 years and to top it all she is financially secure.

After much discussion of her condition, the doctor concludes the cause of her anxiety is that she has absolutely nothing to worry about.

It would be only a slight exaggeration to put Burnley fans in the same bracket as the subject of this tale. The natural state of the football fan is worry - worry shot through with the occasional shaft of relief. So for a football fan to have nothing to worry about is...well, frankly it's worrying.

Because everywhere you look at Turf Moor these days everything appears to be functioning correctly. The current make-up of the Board of Directors is arguably the most intelligent and innovative in the club's history. And although recently released figures indicate the club is still losing money, Messrs Kilby, Ingleby et al have made massive strides to address the situation in both the long and short term. On the playing side, the picture is equally encouraging. In Stan Ternent we have a manager who, in the space of 12 months has transformed a team on the slide into a team with genuine promotion hopes. The players he has brought into the club have given the Clarets squad something it has recently lacked - bona fide strength in depth.

In fact, so well are things going, I have been forced to resort to worrying about whether or not the Jimmy McIlroy Stand will ever be graced with a roof that keeps the punters dry. (Those who frequent this stand regularly will, I feel sure, empathise with me).

So, given this air of optimism, what odds on FA Cup victory at Derby? Well, given that County are third bottom of the Premiership, the mood around Pride Park must be in direct contrast to that at Turf Moor. Stats rarely tell the whole story, but Derby possess a couple of unenviable ones. At home no Premiership outfit has either conceded more or scored fewer than have County.

The Clarets meanwhile, have conceded only two goals in around 1,000 minutes of football. My prediction? 0-0 at Derby, then let's see. . .

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.