CHRIS Waddle was delighted with the way his players started their unwanted weekend off - with a 1-1 draw against Premiership side Sheffield Wednesday in a private friendly match yesterday.

Striker Andy Cooke scored the goal that gave Burnley a draw in the fixture, played behind-closed-doors in Sheffield and the performance and attitude of the squad was just what the Turf Moor player-manager was looking for.

"It was a very good workout between two strong sides," said Waddle today.

"We played quite well, there was some good stuff. Wednesday had a couple of trialists and some players who haven't been featuring in the first team and it went well."

As the Owls don't play until Monday night, it was good preparation for them too.

Despite reports to the contrary, Kevin Henderson, who stepped up to full-time football with Burnley recently after moving to Turf Moor from Morpeth, did not make his senior debut.

The striker was on the bench but was not used with Waddle explaining that he wanted to make sure the North Easterner had fully settled into his new surroundings before asking too much of him.

Those players who didn't feature had a training session and Waddle added: "They put in some quality work and, while we would rather have been playing in the FA Cup this weekend, the lads can now have a weekend off and get their Christmas shopping done before we start to concentrate on Wigan."

Meanwhile, Waddle was even more interested than most as he watched the World Cup draw on television -- and he believes England, and Scotland, didn't come out of it too badly.

The player-manager was an integral part of the last England squad to go to the World Cup finals and, of course, he is a former player with Marseilles, where the draw for next summer's tournament was held.

"I saw a few familiar faces," said the Turf Moor boss. "There was George Weah, for example, and Jean-Pierre Papin, who played when I was there.

"It looks good for England and it's not too bad for Scotland. There's no reason why they can't beat Norway and nick second place in their group.

"You have to fancy England against Romania and I think Colombia will be the hardest game. They are very good at keeping the ball.

"The game against Tunisia isn't a foregone conclusion, especially as it is in Marseilles.

"It's going to be very hot and there are a lot of Tunisians in Marseilles. They won't lack support. It's going to be a tricky game, it would have suited England more in Lens.

"If you get off to a bad start, all of a sudden the daggers come out in the media.

"But, having said that, we should have enough to beat Tunisia.

"We are as good as anybody else at the moment. People will go for Brazil and West Germany but England and Holland could be good outside bets.

"The Dutch have some good players and if they don't start falling out among themselves they could be a decent each-way bet along with England."

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