IT WAS a terrific effort by the new chief executive to walk 10 miles to work earlier this week.

I just hope the gaffer doesn't follow suit and get us doing it!

But seriously, Dave Edmundson's hike has at last done something to address the fact we need more fans inside Turf Moor - and I know I'm speaking for all the players when I say we would greatly appreciate your support.

I can fully understand why people don't come to Turf Moor when we are not winning matches because it's easy to become disillusioned.

But if anything, those are the times your team needs backing even more to try and get back on the straight and narrow.

The Burnley fans who do turn up are magnificent and back the club through thick and thin, and if we can just generate a better atmosphere inside the ground by filling the stands, I can guarantee it makes a world of difference to the players.

It's a catch 22 situation when you are not doing well and fans start to drift away. The atmosphere then gets gradually worse, the team can get affected and results get worse and so on.

But I can assure you there's nothing like running out with a packed Turf Moor crowd fully roused from the first whistle.

A few years ago, against Plymouth, I remember that passion making a huge difference in a game that could have seen us relegated to Division Three.

And what about the Orient game, when you all rallied behind the club in the bad old days?

Those are the games fans' remember and that's largely because of the atmosphere you helped to generate and the way the team reacted.

To a lesser extent, it happened at Derby last week. You could sense it was a massive game for them against another team near the bottom of the league, and the Derby fans responded by packing Pride park and creating a wall of noise.

If the 'Walk Up for Burnley' campaign can result in something similar at Turf Moor, we'll all be winners again.

Speaking of the Derby game, it was another sickening result. We said last week how a few good wins against County and Rotherham would get us moving in the right direction and unfortunately, another one has slipped through the net.

We played well enough to get at least a point, but it's gone now and we have to look forward to another massive game against Ronnie Moore's men.

We know we're under pressure after the recent run, but four of the next five games are at home and that offers the perfect platform to start picking up points again. We haven't got the biggest squad and if we get sucked into a relegation battle after Christmas, it will be hard to get out of it.