STEVE Cotterill wants Burnley to reach the crucial 50 points mark as quickly as possible.

As the Clarets head to Coventry tomorrow aiming to cement their top six position, manager Cotterill insists this middle' phase of the Championship season is the most important.

A busy festive period lies in wait, with further matches against Sunderland and Derby County at Turf Moor this month, followed by four more league and cup games in the space of 12 days.

And while Burnley prepare for a hectic Christmas and new year schedule, Cotterill is looking at another 15 more points which should safeguard the club's Championship status.

The Clarets have already racked up 35 points after a flying start, so five more wins will see them tick off that milestone.

"We only look at 50 points because that is one thing that guarantees you something," said Cotterill.

"That is always the first target and the quicker you get to 50 points, then the quicker your destiny gets mapped out."

Cotterill added: "Everyone says that when you get to the last couple of months, that's the business end of the season.

"I actually think that, quite often, your season is shaped around those middle months.

"It's important that you keep going and keep trying to reproduce the form you produced in the first couple of months of the season.

"The middle bit is the important bit and if you are there or thereabouts at the end of February, then you are in with a shout of achieving that season."

Sixth-placed Burnley are only five points adrift of league leaders Birmingham, while a congested table shows Sheffield Wednesday, in 14th position, lagging Steve Bruce's Blues by just 10 points.

"We are not even half-way through our games yet," said Cotterill.

"It's too early to be reading anything into the league table just yet.

"If we are still there after 36, 37 or 38 games, we may be able to read something into the table then.

"It's important we keep chipping away and keep getting the points on board.

"We've gone on an unbeaten run before and we've got to try and maintain the one we are on now."

A feature of Burnley's charge into the table's higher echelons has been a steady defence that has conceded only 22 goals and kept eight clean sheets from 21 games.

But the Clarets have gone five matches without fashioning a shut-out, as they paid the price for individual mistakes.

Cotterill said: "It's been a few individual errors that have led us into not keeping clean sheets.

"Last week (against Ipswich), as a back four, I don't think we deserved to keep a clean sheet.

"It's something we need to do better this weekend.

"But we've done alright for clean sheets - we've got about eight or nine this season.

"That's not bad, about 50 per cent of our games, but it just could have been more."