OWEN Coyle has called for Burnley to cement their place in the Championship’s play-off positions.

The Clarets clung on to a top six spot following a home draw with bottom club Doncaster and disappointing away defeat to Barnsley in the space of three days.

Draws for fellow challengers Preston, Swansea, Cardiff and Plymouth in midweek meant Burnley avoided being overtaken in the table following Monday night’s loss at Oakwell.

But Coyle knows his team cannot afford any slip-ups if they are to keep pace with the promotion-chasing pack, particularly in the run-up to an action-packed festive campaign.

The Burnley boss is seeking to make the most of home advantage when his side entertains Derby County this afternoon, while three of the following four games will also be played at Turf Moor.

There was a similar scenario in September, when the Clarets knocked Fulham out of the Carling Cup and recorded home wins over Blackpool, Fulham, Preston and Watford to crown Coyle manager of the month.

Now, just over eight weeks on, and with Arsenal next on the agenda for Tuesday night’s quarter-final clash, the Scot would welcome a similar outcome.

“We had a repeat of that (run) before and we’re certainly looking to get the same results as last time. Each and every one of them were tough games so all we’ll do is concentrate on Derby, who are just down from the Premier League with a big budget and unbelievable structure, but the bottom line is we know if we get to the level and standards we’ve played at before, then it's a game we can win.

“They had a poor start but have been on a magnificent run and were certainly deserving of it, so we’re going to have to be at our best; but we know if we show, as we did in the last half-hour at Barnsley, that when we’re in full flow then we’re a very good team to watch and a very effective team, and that’s what we need to get to.”

It took Derby five attempts to win their first league game after relegation, but Coyle admits he is not surprised their have turned their season around under manager Paul Jewell to start climbing the table.

“It was never in doubt; with the quality of players they’ve got and the size of squad - Paul’s a top manager, there'’ no doubt about that, and Mark Seagraves (first team coach) Iplayed with at Bolton,” he said.

“I know them well and there was no doubt they were going to be in the shake-up. We have to make sure that we delay the progress for another week.

“Even when you look at Birmingham and Reading with the squads they'’ve got, they’re still finding on a weekly basis how tough the games are, and that is the nature of theChampionship. You know you can’t switch off for any given second in any game, because if you do you’ll be punished. It’s happened to us a couple of times and we have to make sure that we eradicate that.”

And after going behind in four out of their last five games, Coyle has urged his players to get on the front foot.

He said: “If we can play against everybody for the rest of the season as we did in the last half-hour (at Barnsley) then I think you’ll see an awful lot of points coming in. But that’s not always the case.

“The important things is we start the games well, and let’s get in front for a change instead of chasing our tail all the time.”