BULLISH Burnley boss Stan Ternent has delivered an upbeat half term report.

The Clarets have fulfilled exactly half of their 46 First Division fixtures ahead of Saturday's testing trip to Lancashire rivals Preston - the only side the Clarets have yet to face.

But having travelled to play most of the promotion-chasing sides in the first half of the season, Ternent remains optimistic of better things to come in the second half of the campaign.

He said: "I think we have served our time in terms of travelling and to be fair to the players, we have now played a lot of the top teams away from home.

"Preston are the only side we haven't played in the league at all this season, so once we've had a good look at them we'll have seen everybody and I feel we are doing okay."

Ternent recently claimed he was less than a handful of players away from having "a fantastic side".

And despite his frustration at only being able to strike one loan deal in the past three months - to bring Blackburn defender Jay McEveley to Turf Moor - the Clarets chief still has plenty of options at his disposal to kick off the second half of the season at Deepdale on Saturday.

Burnley are free of suspension for the first time in four games, while skipper Graham Branch should hopefully be back in contention after missing three games.

Ternent added: "I'm hopeful of having Graham back this week and Alan Moore has been away at Lilleshall, so he should only be a couple more weeks."

Meanwhile, Paul Weller has reflected on his bizarre own goal last weekend, which handed Coventry victory at Turf Moor.

Weller, who was making his first start in nine games, admitted: "You seenthese things happen on TV and think 'how has that happened' and I still don't know to be honest.

"When the ball came across I was trying to head it back out of the box and I just got confused completely and it hit the side of my head and went in the bottom corner.

"Now though, we have a big derby game coming up at Preston and if I can go down the other end and score there, that would be fantastic."

Burnley fans need to act quickly to get their hands on tickets for Saturday's all-ticket clash at Deepdale. Over 2,700 of the 3,000 allocation have already been sold, with no more tickets expected to be allocated. Prices are £16 adults, £11 OAPs and £8.50 juniors.

The Clarets now know their FA Cup third round opponents. A Liam Lawrence hat-trick helped Mansfield beat Second Division strugglers Wycombe Wanderers 3-2 in last night's replay to set up a Field Mill clash on Saturday, January 3.