Shall I wear the lucky pants ?

With a couple of games this week Burnley have a real chance to cement a play-off place. Rickers Twickers can hardly contain himself.

Few things are as exciting as the prospect of watching your team play two games of football in a week. Yes, tickets are certainly expensive and at £28 to watch a game at Ipswich and £24 to gain access to Home Park this will certainly not be a cheap week for Claret fans.

Factor in travel, accommodation, a bit of nosebag and the time involved which, for some, will involve all manner of convoluted arrangements and watching two games in quick succession starts to seem like a crazy idea. Yet those of us who are lucky, or stupid enough, will still do it and many more unable to attend will sit glued to radio, TV or internet to cheer on their heroes from afar.

Burnley are playing game number 51 of the season at Portman Road with matchday 52 – as they say in UEFA circles – following close behind at Plymouth on Saturday. Of course the players must be tired but spare a thought for the fans.

Only Katie Price`s bra can claim to have had better support than Burnley this year so deep have the fans been asked to dig. Some hardy souls – with sympathetic partners, children and, no doubt, bank managers, will have attended every game so far and their loyalty is, frankly, astounding.

Others, perhaps because of travel and cost, will have been to fewer games but their commitment to the cause cannot be questioned either. In these hardened times fans have to pick and choose and football may not be considered a priority in many households in the current credit crunch climate.

Even so, like cake toppings, Clarets will be there in their hundreds and thousands between now and the end of the season and maybe, just maybe, there could be something to celebrate and every supporter of every club wants to be there when that happens.

Surely every Claret up and down the country will be spending a lot of time day-dreaming at the moment. Who will Owen pick ? Is Eagles going to be fit ? How many points will we get ? Shall I wear my lucky pants ? The questions are endless and answers will be provided over the coming weeks.

Certainly the anticipation is mouth-watering now and the mid-winter gloom has been replaced by a fresh, spring-like optimism that could see us push for a play-off place and, if we close our eyes and whisper it quietly, a place in the top two.

Watching Fulham have such a good season and remembering that Burnley have beaten them and others already shows that the Premier League should hold no fears. We might not be as good as, say, United, Liverpool or Chelsea but we could probably hold our own against many of the other teams.

This week`s games could be classic encounters and two wins would be magnificent. Standing on 61 points at present a couple of victories would be priceless. Things are so tight in and around the play-off places at present that it is difficult to predict how many points would secure a play-off spot.

A couple of weeks ago Burnley did not look like achieving anywhere near the magical 69 mark but such is the topsy-turvy nature of this campaign that a total of 73-74 plus now looks well within reach.

Come on you Clarets !