SOME bookmakers make Burnley favourites for Sunday’s derby, yet there is a phrase emanating from Turf Moor that suggests their confidence may not be shared. Tickets still available.

It was in Burnley that fans queued around the ground for season tickets, where enthusiasm for the fairytale knew no bounds.

If ticket sales have been flagging, with seats still available yesterday for what was always their most anticipated match of the season, then clearly so is belief.

One bookie quoted odds of 11/8 for a Burnley win, 15/8 for a Blackburn victory.

The logic of the outsider is obvious. Blackburn have won just once away all season, while Burnley have lost only four times at home.

But they overlook the character of this derby, and a fact that must surely make Rovers slight favourites.

That fact is this. The winners of the first derby of the season have gone on to win the second game as well on six of the last eight occasions.

By winning 3-2 at Ewood Park in October, Blackburn asserted their status as East Lancashire’s top dogs at a time when it was very much up for grabs. Now, Rovers step into the cauldron of Turf Moor with the mental upper hand.

While Blackburn had as much to prove as Burnley in October, when the Clarets were higher in the table, now it is Brian Laws’ side who have all the work to do.

Rovers are safe, yet this could represent Burnley’s last chance for survival.

It may, however, be the perfect game for a side whose hopes are fading fast – because victory would transform the mood around Turf Moor.

Their best chance may lie with Laws, whose finest hour as Sheffield Wednesday boss was masterminding a league double over rivals Sheffield United for the first time in a startling 95 years.

But, after one win in 20 league games, ticket sales suggest optimism is not high in Burnley.