Funny, isn’t it, the way football always insists on throwing up coincidences?

It was the meek surrender against Scunthorpe United between Christmas and New Year which proved to be the final nail in Brian Laws’ managerial coffin.

Fast forward a few weeks and, having seen off one Clarets boss, it fell to the Iron to provide the opposition for Eddie Howe’s first game at the helm.

As new dawns go, the tea-time tussle at Glanford Park is unlikely to trouble the memory banks in years to come, not that too much should be read into Howe’s first 90 minutes in the hot-seat.

For starters, the manager is still in the getting-to-know-you period with his new players. And team selections are likely to lack consistency in the next few games, as the new incumbent has a good look at what he has inherited.

It would also be unwise to attempt to draw any conclusions about the kind of football Howe would like his team to play, particularly when Saturday evening’s game was played out on the kind of surface which would have shamed the groundsman at Derby’s old Baseball Ground. Okay, we may be entering the realms of hyperbole here, but you take my point.

The only parts of the pitch that were conducive to getting the ball down were both flanks. And it was not by chance that this is where the Clarets’ best moves came from.

With Eagles flitting in and out and Wallace stubbornly refusing to get involved, it fell to Wade Elliott to carry Burnley’s biggest threat – although his impact was somewhat diminished when moved onto the left side in the second half.

On the balance of chances created, Howe’s men probably deserved to leave Scunthorpe with all three points. But if Saturday’s game proved one thing, it is that the Clarets lack a clinical finisher.

Rodriguez, Eagles and Iwelumo all spurned good opportunities and although Dean Marney may be many things, the next Andy Payton is not one of them.

Still, there were encouraging signs; a second consecutive clean sheet, dominating a side away from home and not leaking any late goals.

Next up is the small matter of Burton Albion in the FA Cup.

In one way, it’s exactly the kind of tie for which the phrase “banana skin” was invented.

Looked at another way, it’s an excellent opportunity to progress to the competition’s fifth round.