STUDENTS of the game should have a field day tomorrow.

While Leicester and Burnley do battle on the field of play, the titanic touchline tussle between Steve Cotterill and Micky Adams should make equally riveting viewing.

For both managers, it's a game within a game - and one both will equally feel they can win.

City boss Adams should know exactly how Cotterill operates after handing the Clarets chief the chance to get back into the game last season as a coach at the Walkers Stadium.

However, the flip side of that coin means that Cotterill carries the genuine advantage of working alongside most of the City squad during that three-month coaching stint.

That priceless opportunity gave one of football's brightest minds a chance to take mental notes of all City's strengths and weaknesses.

And, despite all this week's furore in Westminster, Cotterill is ready to indulge in a spot of Fox hunting!

He said: "I suppose it will be five-o-clock tomorrow before I'll be better equipped to answer whether it's been a help or a hindrance working at Leicester.

"But I really enjoyed my time there and I'm looking forward to going back.

"Leicester is a good, family club with good supporters, and obviously, there's my association with Micky and his staff, so I'm looking forward to seeing them."

Cotterill reflects with satisfaction on his spell in the Midlands, which only came after he had rejected a host of managerial offers following almost 12 months out of the game.

"It was my choice to be out of the game for that period," he insisted. "The day after leaving Sunderland I had a phone call from a chairman, but I decided not to take it on.

"I needed to take a job that I felt was the right one, with the right chairman, and that's why I waited.

"I had eight job offers in that time, but I didn't want to take them. But when Leicester asked me about a coaching role, it was the Premiership and three months work.

"I didn't have to tie myself down to anything, and Micky and Dave Bassett said that if anything came up I was free to apply.

"It was also a chance to get back working with some good players: The likes of Les Ferdinand, Paul Dickov and Ben Thatcher ... not forgetting Danny Coyne and Frank Sinclair!"

Naturally, the players will ultimately decide tomorrow's outcome. But in the dug-out poker game, Adams holds most of the aces with a heavyweight squad.

Cotterill, in contrast, continues to make the best of an under-strength hand with some clever conjuring that David Blaine would be proud of.

"I do envy their squad," admitted the Clarets chief. "Certainly not just the quality, but also their numbers, but you can only get 11 players on the pitch at any one time.

"It's funny because, when we were writing the team sheet out before the Crewe game, we wondered whether there was another team in the country whose starting line-up carried the squad numbers 1-11.

"It was certainly unusual, but unfortunately it won't be 1-11 tomorrow, because Lee Roche won't be there because of his hamstring injury."

Cotterill admitted: "The job just got harder! Losing Micah Hyde through suspension and now losing Lee has put us on the ropes a bit.

"We've coped well without Micah, and that's a credit to the lads, but now we might be going into the unknown a little bit.

"Up until Lee's injury, I knew with my 1-11 exactly what I was going to get. Now we'll just have to wait and see."

Thankfully, such expected problems have only materialised with eight games gone - a testament to the fitness of the players and techniques employed to keep them up and running.

But as Cotterill points out, there are also benefits to carrying such a small squad.

He said: "I would like to think maybe we've educated the players to look after themselves better.

"We look after them too by making sure they're fed, watered and hopefully trained according to what their body needs on any God given day.

"We also have a great physio who looks after them, a young lady who's a good masseur ... and you're guaranteed your appearance money here, so it's not bad being a footballer really."