STEVE Cotterill has shaken off the disappointment of Burnley's FA Cup exit by setting his players a target to realise their play-off dream.

The Clarets manager wants his team to repeat the results of their last 18 Championship games in the remaining 18 to give them the points total he reckons will be good enough for a top six place.

And they have no cup distractions after their 2-1 defeat to Derby County on Saturday sent them falling at the first hurdle of this year's competition.

While disappointed to be knocked out, Cotterill reckons his side's performance, coupled with the showing at QPR last Monday when they drew 1-1, indicates his players are showing the type of away form that will ensure he reaches his target.

"There's a lot to look forward to and the rest of the season is definitely still alive," said Cotterill.

"I think our last two performances away from home have been good performances. At QPR we could have been 4-0 up at half-time and that wasn't with luck, we really could have been 4-0 up down there.

"We could have been in front at Derby so the last two away performances have been encouraging, whereas earlier on in the season they weren't so good.

"We're eighth in the table because we've worked very hard to get back into contention after being bottom of the table at one stage.

"We've got 18 league games left and if we can mirror the 18 league games we've just had we'll have 71 points and I think that would get you in the play-offs this year."

Another silver lining around the cloud of the cup exit is the Clarets now having a free weekend at the end of January to help recover form the Christmas excursions.

However, Cotterill admits he would have liked FA Cup progress after the experience of last year's run when they knocked out Liverpool and revelled in two fifth round clashes with rivals Blackburn Rovers.

"It doesn't do any harm with the size of our squad to have a break but we probably don't want the break at the moment if I'm honest," said Cotterill.

"We'd rather be in the fourth round and maybe earning a bit more money for the club, and it gives you a chance of pitting your wits against one of the big guns.

"We had a lot of that last year and we developed a taste for it but this year it hasn't fallen our way.

"But now we've got a free Saturday and maybe it's time for a little bit of a break for the boys."