IF NOTHING else, you have to admire the dedication of the Burnley fan who hung around in his seat until full time to abruptly question whether Steve Cotterill's reign as Burnley manager was coming to an end.

Given the nature of a wholly uneventful 90 minutes in plunging temperatures, it's a wonder he resisted the urge to head home long before the final whistle blew.

And in the end, the icy response he received from the Clarets chief probably made him wish he had.

Cotterill later revealed: "I took exception to one fan at the end who shouted Cotterill, are you going?' "I don't like being called Cotterill at the best of times and if he had politely called me Steve I might have gone over and told him!

"Maybe he'll be big enough to come back sometime and apologise and better still, if he's that bothered, he can always come and knock on my office door because I will be there bright and breezy at 7am on Thursday morning as I normally am!"

That invitation at least bodes well for Burnley Football Club ahead of today's second round of crucial talks between manager and chairman Barry Kilby.

The best any fan can hope for in the present climate is to take one day at a time as the situation, to state the obvious, remains precarious.

Leicester City have made it clear they are prepared to go to any lengths to bring the right man to the Walkers Stadium, causing friction not just in the corridors of power at Turf Moor, but also at Deepdale and, if reports are to be believed, Kenilworth Road.

Cotterill remains a manager driven by ambition and desperate to succeed, but hampered by a chronic lack of cash.

And in a brutally honest post-match assessment last night, he admitted: "We just lack a bit of money to push us on. We've had a good 18 months and raised £6m through transfer sales and cup runs, but I don't see there is too much more as a manager that I can do."

Therein lies the root of the current conundrum.

The manager's emotional ties with this club are now deep-rooted, but it would appear something has to give if Cotterill is to be persuaded that he can achieve his personal goals at Burnley.

Otherwise, each bigger managerial job that becomes available will always have his name inextricably linked with it.

Maybe the £1m-plus dedicated to the manager from Ade Akinbiyi's sale can be a catalyst for a happy ending?

There was never a cat in hell's chance of the manager spending that precious kitty wisely in the final few days of the January transfer window, when the 'wanted list' of targets was virtually exhausted.

Instead, that money can now form the basis for a summer of brisk trading in a marketplace awash with free agents and fresh targets.

Whether it is enough remains to be seen.

Until then, the salvation of loan signings are set to play a part in carrying the Clarets through to the warmer months.

The first such arrival, Leeds United striker Michael Ricketts, joned up with his new team mates for the dreaded trip to the Withdean Stadium - a soulless atheltics arena that, whatever Brighton's ground problems, should never have been passed fit to stage Championship football.

Disgracefully, a few hundred Burnley fans paid for the dubious privilege of being herded into some makeshift seating at least 50 yards behind one goal.

In hindsight though, maybe they were the lucky ones. For close-up, there was little to get excited about as two sides struggled to raise their game on a freeezing night on the south coast.

Ricketts ploughed a lonely furrow in attack and eventually picked up a debut booking for dissent, while Michael Duff slotted in at right back in Wayne Thomas's absence to allow skipper Frank Sinclair to partner John McGreal in the centre of defence.

And certainly the Clarets, visibly glowing from their sunshine training break in Tenerife, were at their meanest to chalk up only their second shut-out in 11 games.

Albion were comfortably kept at arms length until the half hour mark, when Alexandre Frutos fired a free kick straight at Brian Jensen in the first meaningful attack of the night.

James O'Connor threatened to ignite things with an audacious curler just before half time that had keeper Wayne Henderson worried as it flashed just past the right hand post.

Things were finally looking up and at least Burnley were attacking within sight of their own fans after the break!

However, from an early corner Micah Hyde gave them a close-up view with an wild volley that almost carried to the distant bank of seating.

Restless Albion fans, meanwhile, could be heard muttering that this was a "must-win" game to ease their relegation worries.

And after former Bury striker Colin Kazim-Richards was thrown on to provide more attacking thrust, the hosts carved out their best opening to force Jensen into evasive action, holding on to Paul Reid's diving header at the second attempt.

Five-goal leading marksman Kazim-Richards, yet to score when starting a game for the Seagulls, then blazed over when looking suspiciously offside And as a furious Sinclair made his feelings clear to the linesman, he earned himself a needless 10th yellow card of the season and an untimely two-match ban.

However, that was all quickly forgotten as the game petered out to give Burnley a welcome point - their first in four games - and carry them through the 40-point barrier.

Content Cotterill concluded: "We didn't think we would come here and score lots of goals, but there hasn't been many times this season when we haven't scored and we really needed to come here and keep a clean sheet."

Mission accomplished. Now, onto more serous matters.