A fine Claret

BBC Sport Online's Pete Oliver looks at how sleeping Lancashire giants Burnley are on their way back to the big time.

In 1987, Burnley were one game from sliding out of the Football League.

Now the Clarets are gearing up for a major assault on a place in the Premiership.

Manager Stan Ternent has dragged Burnley up from the foot of the Second Division to a position four points clear at the top of Division One.

A disastrous run around Christmas and the New Year, when they were stripped of key players like Glen Little, Kevin Ball and Lee Briscoe, cost Burnley a place in the play-offs last season.

We've got to have a go at it now, if it's possible

Burnley boss Stan Ternent

Ternent has since made a clutch of shrewd signings to try and prevent such a repeat.

And having taken Burnley to the brink he is ready to enter the market again in his bid to deliver what was, until recently, the near unthinkable prospect of a place in the Premiership to a football-mad town.

"If I can strengthen the squad that's what I intend to do," Ternent told BBC Sport Online.

"We are in a position that warrants it and I owe it to the players, the chairman and the board and most importantly the supporters.

"We've got to have a go at it now, if it's possible."

Unlikely front-runners

Getting the right players is the key and Ternent has proved a master at it.

He bought on a shoestring and sold for a handsome profit while taking Bury into Division One.

And since joining Burnley he has played the transfer market just as cannily, although the Clarets do not need to sell.

Three players who have done much to establish Burnley as unlikely front-runners did not cost a penny in transfer fees this summer.

Gareth Taylor, on loan last season, is the leading scorer with nine goals.

The capture of Gnohere was a major coup

Alan Moore has revived his career since leaving Middlesbrough.

And former Caen defender Arthur Gnohere has proved a revelation alongside Ian Cox in the absence of club captain Steve Davis and Mitchell Thomas.

Signing Gnohere, 23, on a long-term contract is seen as a major coup, as is securing the services of Little for a further year until at least 2003.

The 26-year-old winger, who even attracted the attention of Sven Goran Eriksson in a pre-season friendly, is Burnley's talisman.

And a career-best nine goals already underlines a growing end product to a sublime talent.

When Ternent has spent he has done so wisely, twice breaking the club's transfer record for Davis and striker Ian Moore, who is finding the net again.

Midfielder Tony Grant has proved a snip at around £250,000 from promotion rivals Manchester City.

Uncompromising

Another measure of Burnley's progress is illustrated by the fact that Ternent has allowed Andy Payton and Paul Cook, key players in recent times, to go out on loan.

Those moves also underline Ternent's stature as The Boss.

The 52-year-old Geordie, who started his playing career at Burnley, drives the team forward in uncompromising style.

Burnley's work ethic under Ternent is legendary and after six straight wins the team will be starting to believe they are unbeatable - not through complacency but desire.

Little: A talismanic figure

Their destiny is very much in their own hands with all the leading contenders, bar Kevin Keegan's Manchester City, to come to Turf Moor where Burnley have lost just once.

Ternent admits his side is there to be shot at but so far they have proved an elusive target.

Keeping the big-spenders at bay will not be easy but a top-six finish already looks assured.

And do not back against the Clarets regaining a place at the top table of English football for the first time in more than a quarter of a century.