IF the chairman is to be believed, Burnley Football Club is trapped in a vicious circle.

Worryingly, we're being told we need an average of 16,000 fans to break even and, when Barry Kilby's inevitable purchase of Turf Moor and Gawthorpe goes through, we have no 'assets' left other than players to sell.

We have too few players as it is, so where do we go from here to remain competitive in an increasingly tough Championship?

The money from the ground sale cannot go on team strengthening as clearly it's needed to keep propping the club up.

And we were only just scraping towards the 16,000 mark when we were at the top end of the league in our first Championship season following promotion.

So the only salvation I can see is in the new shares issue being proposed.

The news that 50,000 shares could be put on the market, potentially raising another £10million, led to raised eyebrows as many of us came to the obvious conclusion that a mystery investor must be waiting in the wings.

Again, we are told this is not the case. Yet given the scenario that's set out, surely it needs such a backer to step forward if the club is to take the next step forward.

Either that, or another long and profitable cup run!

All of which is threatening to undermine all of the hard work done by Steve Cotterill and the players this season. So what better time to show that support is there than to turn up in numbers this weekend against Leicester?

The two-week break has given everyone time to reflect on a job well done. Ninth place in the Championship - above the likes of Crystal Palace, Ipswich Town and Norwich City - is no mean feat six short weeks from Christmas and the club are doing all they can to tap into the conscience of supporters.

Scrapping the £3 surcharge for Saturday's game is the best response they could possibly give to those who claim to be boycotting the club because of it's implementation.

If they are out there, they no longer have reason to stay away.

Then there's the reduction in prices for the upcoming Watford game. This is a key point because in a working class town, the expense has to put some families off going to live games.

Take a couple of kids along and suddenly you are looking at either splashing out for a whole bunch of season tickets, or forking out a fortune every other week.

Clearly we couldn't survive by charging £10 and £5 for every game, but right now it's good to see those behind the scenes at Turf Moor at least trying initiative to get attendances back up and towards this 16,000.

Unless this elusive sugar daddy comes along, the club has to be seen to be helping itself.