AROUND 30 minutes remained, but fed-up Burnley fans were leaving in droves.

Three goals down, they had seen enough. And it's unlikely Owen Coyle would have blamed them.

"As a team, and as the manager, I apologise to the fans for that because I expect a lot better than those players have shown," said the disappointed Burnley boss after crashing to a first away loss in his regime and fourth defeat in six games.

"We had good support and those people had paid good money to watch it. The players will know themselves that we, as a club, have let everyone down.

"But we win, lost and draw together. We will look to each other for what we can do differently or better.

"If they are the type of players I believe they are they will be hurting."

Coyle certainly was.

After having to do without EIGHT players due to injury and suspension at home to high-flying Bristol City on Saturday, it was with some initial relief that three of those were available for New Year's Day against a side that, unlike the Robins, have struggled to maintain their promotion momentum through to the halfway stage of the season.

Leading scorer Andy Gray returned after requiring stitches to an ankle wound he picked up at Ipswich Town, while Chris McCann and Graham Alexander were both restored to the starting line-up following their respective three-match and one-match bans.

But despite have their depleted squad swelled by the trio, Burnley were bereft of energy to stop buoyant Blackpool stretching an unbeaten run to four games.

Gray remains stuck on 13 goals, after rarely getting a sniff, and McCann had no sooner made his comeback than he was facing yet another stint on the sidelines, after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season for needlessly making a late tackle on the wing.

Alexander, meanwhile, had a torrid time with Wes Hoolahan, who helped get Blackpool on the front foot midway through the first half after the Seasiders homed in on a weak spot.

Ben Burgess should have done better from close range, but after rising well at the far post to meet Hoolahan's dangerous left-wing delivery, the striker couldn't keep his header down.

Scott Vernon, who kept his place in the starting line-up after his two goals sank Colchester at Layer Rad on Saturday, hooked an effort wide from the edge of the box then right back Shaun Barker was unlucky to see a far post header drop just wide from Hoolahan's 17th-minute corner - the first of the game.

Although those early openings weren't converted, Burnley were looking decidedly vulnerable at set pieces, and Gabor Kiraly did nothing to help calm any nerves when he competed with Burgess for a high free kick that Stephen Crainey had launched into the box. The Hungarian spilled it, couldn't pounce on it at the second attempt, but breathed a sigh of relief when, after Burgess had helped to keep the ball alive on the edge of the area, Michael Flynn couldn't benefit from an empty net and blazed his shot high and wide.

But Blackpool made the breakthrough from another dangerous corner, from which Hoolahan this time picked out tall central defender Kaspars Gorkss, who steered a header towards the bottom right corner.

Kiraly got a hand to it, but it wasn't enough to prevent the ball from sneaking in-off the right-hand post.

McCann let his frustrations get the better of him and was booked for a late tackle on Gary Taylor-Fletcher as the wide man threatened a burst down the right. That yellow card - his fifth of the season which will therefore incur another suspension in a week's time - came soon after Kyle Lafferty had also been cautioned for a trip on Blackpool's wide man.

An injury to David Unsworth created another defensive dilemma just after the half-hour, and although Stephen Jordan did well after replacing him at centre half, the disruption did nothing to help Burnley get into any kind of flow, and Kiraly reacted well to prevent Claus Jorgensen's wickedly deflected long range low strike from veering past him for a second.

Burnley finally began to show better attacking invention, and when Lafferty was tripped by Taylor-Fletcher just outside the box, after Harley had done tricked his way inside to lay the ball back for him, Blake saw his chance from the free kick.

The striker brilliantly bent the ball around the wall, but found Paul Rachubka in fine form.

It proved to be one of only three saves Rachubka had to make all game as Burnley surrendered their unbeaten away record under new manager Coyle with a whimper.

Lafferty went close to getting the Clarets back on level terms soon after the re-start, but after meeting Blake's left-wing free kick he flicked a header back and over.

Ade Akinbiyi, who came off the bench to score in the first meeting with Blackpool at Turf Moor, replaced Blake just before the hour, but never really got close to having the same impact.

Instead, Blackpool increased their lead. Claus Jorgensen fired a good ball in from the left, Lafferty didn't put up a strong enough fight to stop Burgess connecting with the ball, and the strapping striker thumped a header, virtually unchallenged, beyond Kiraly.

James O'Connor went close on the hour, but it was game over just three minutes later, as Jorgensen struck a 25-yard volley that flew beyond the Hungarian stopper with the aid of a slight deflection, and dozens of furious Burnley fans made their way to the exit.

They didn't really miss anything.

Steve Jones replaced Lafferty but the wide man, who also came off the bench to score against Blackpool in September, couldn't make history repeat itself either, while Wade Elliott and O'Connor had a couple of late chances that Rachubka dealt with.

Simon Grayson's men, instead, might even have made it four when Andy Morrell replaced Vernon with 15 minutes to go but had a goal disallowed for offside.

"We did have chances in the second half, but I've got to say it's nowhere near the standard we're looking for and indeed the standard we've shown before," said Coyle.

"There were far too many people who weren't anywhere near their individual standards and certainly the collective standards."