I'VE had a few baptisms of fire in my reasonably young life. But nothing could have prepared me for what happened after 1.30pm last Saturday.

As many readers will be aware, particularly Burnley fans, Clarets reporter Matt 'The Hat' Horn has jetted off, mask on mouth and hat in hand, to China, to embark on a new adventure.

He accompanied me to Turf Moor for the Sheffield Wednesday game to bid a final farewell to the club he has written about for the best part of two years.

And what a match it was to sign off on.

Now jumping into such a good and well respected writer's shoes is a daunting task on its own, but my head was spinning like the empty season ticket books which were being tossed down from the Jimmy McIlroy Stand by the time referee Mark Clattenburg blew the final whistle.

Having to write about nine goals is difficult enough, especially when it could hardly be described as an entertaining game - certainly not by the football purists anyway. But doing it when you can barely see the numbers on the backs of Wednesday's blue and white striped shirts is virtually a mission impossible.

But now, as a result of their 7-2 defeat to the Owls, on the back of a host of freakishly disappointing results this season, manager Stan Ternent is making plans to right the wrongs next term. And if his track record is anything to go by, it will be a mission possible.

At Bury he led them to two promotions on a proverbial shoestring to earn a place in the First Division for the first time in their history before moving to Turf Moor.

With barely any money to play with until new chairman Barry Kilby arrived six months into his reign, he made some astute signings when the funds were available, including Steve Davis (for £750,000 from Luton Town) and Graham Branch (a free signing from Stockport County).

Since promotion to the First Division in 2000, Ternent's fervour for a place in the Premiership has never waned, nor has his belief that he will on day take Burnley there.

The collapse of ITV Digital hit the manager and the club hard, but as Ternent admitted on Saturday, his enthusiasm for the club and his job is still strong.

That familiar financial shoestring will probably be all that is available to him again next season as the club looks to get on a better monetary footing.

But, with his vast array of contacts and superb ability to wheel and deal, Ternent will do his damndest to confine the mistakes of this season to the past and get their push for promotion back on track.

Burnley's end of season presentation night at Turf Moor was a great success, even though this campaign hasn't ended as well as it promised to just a couple of months ago. And that is testament to everyone connected with the Clarets.

It was also nice to see Glen Little take a few days off from his loan spell at Reading to meet up with his Burnley team-mates ahead of the play-offs.

Rumours have started circulating that he may stay at the Madejski Stadium at the end of the season, which the wing wizard poured cold water on.

In my opinion, his appearance at the Player of the Season awards is as good an indication as any that he will be back at Turf Moor in the summer.