WHEN Stan Ternent led Bury to the second division title in 1997 they only conceded an incredible seven goals at home all season.

How the Burnley boss must yearn for such defensive solidity today as his Clarets side continues to leak goals at an alarming rate.

Only the woodwork stopped Burnley being hit for six for the third time this season at the weekend, a figure keeper Marlon Beresford had never let in before in his professional career before the current campaign.

The five goals conceded against Reading at the weekend left the Clarets with the second worst defensive record in the first division having conceded 55 in just 29 games.

Two seasons ago, on their return to Division One, they conceded 54 times in the whole campaign.

There is little doubt that there has been a marked change in emphasis from the manager as he has pursued a far more attacking policy that has paid dividends at the other end. Burnley scored 20 more goals last year than in the previous campaign, 70 instead of 50. Having netted just once in the first five games, they are already closing in on the half century this time around.

But that strike rate has come at a price and the fact that they have now let in six goals twice and five goals once is a major concern for him. Add in four conceded at Gillingham and three on five separate occasions and it is no wonder he has been left scratching his head.

"I don't know why but at Burnley we always seem to throw in results like this," he admitted as he reflected on the 5-2 defeat by Reading at Turf Moor.

When he led Bury to successive promotions, Ternent was known as a manager who liked to build from a sound defensive platform but there are good reasons why in the past two seasons he has made a conscious effort to attack more.

After all, with players such as Robbie Blake, Glen Little, Gareth Taylor and Ian Moore he might argue that attack is the best form of defence.

But at times this season, it is almost as if the Clarets have had no defence whatsoever with players from Grimsby, Rotherham and Reading having a ball at their expense.

It is true that injury problems have forced him to chop and change at the back, although Dean West and Graham Branch have been settled as full backs.

It is in the middle that there have been problems and it has been a case of perming two from Arthur Gnohere, Steve Davis, Ian Cox, Mark McGregor and now Drissa Diallo.

The three biggest defeats saw Gnohere in the middle alongside McGregor at Grimsby, Cox playing with Davis against Rotherham and Diallo partnering Gnohere on Saturday - so all have had their nightmares.

But you attack as a team and defend as a team so the blame needs to be shared out with the continued absence of a midfield ball winner an undoubted problem.

Ternent admitted as much at the weekend as he bemoaned the continued absence of Paul Weller and Steve Davis.

And as he spoke about the need for leadership on the pitch, it was a reminder of how much the presence of Davis is missed, either in defence or midfield.

Arguably the best defensive display of the season came in the 1-0 win at Leicester when Davis was growing into his midfield role and Cox and Gnohere were together at the back.

That was during a run when they played in 12 consecutive games together and it is no surprise that it was a spell when the goals against slowed considerably.

Because of suspension and injury, Ternent has been forced to use six different pairings at the back as well as one experiment with three in the middle at Derby. All too often he has been forced into changes.

A study of football history shows that the most successful teams have a settled defence, just think of Hansen and Lawrenson, Bruce and Pallister, Adams and Keown.

What Ternent would give for a settled duo in the heart of his defence from now until the end of the season.