IN a few days time Santa will be flying over Turf Moor with his sack full of gifts, but what is on the wish list for those below?

Well to start with the club itself, perhaps if they aren't to get the £4million they are owed by ITV Digital they would settle for the bosses of Carlton and Granada so they could roast them on an open fire in lieu of chestnuts.

There is no doubt what manager Stan Ternent would like - a few more players please. He may be blessed with sufficient strikers but the rest of his squad is as bare as a Christmas tree on January 6. Santa does not even have to give him the players permanently, I am sure he would settle for taking them on loan. Goalkeeper Marlon Beresford might well be asking for a magic rubber so he can expunge the matches against Grimsby and Rotherham from his own personal records.

He did not really make a mistake in either game but twice let in six having never done it before in his life.

Poor Steve Davis will just be hoping that he gets a slice of luck and I hope for his sake he pulls the wish-bone in the family turkey this Christmas. He has not had much to cheer for the past 14 months and surely deserves a different sort of break to those he has been getting.

In-form Graham Branch may just want to send the videos from recent games to the fans who spent so much time giving him stick when he was struggling with his own injury problems.

Arguably one of the players of the season to date, he has shown that hard work and determination can have its reward.

Wales international striker Gareth Taylor might be asking for a Portuguese phrase book as he continues to be part of Mark Hughes' all conquering squad of Welsh dragons. Euro 2004 is not far away and his club manager, who is a regular visitor to the country, might be able to combine business and pleasure by watching his centre forward in action on the big stage.

Man United fan Glen Little may have a surprise present on his list, a video of this season's Manchester derby at Maine Road. Okay, it was a nightmare for United but it does look as if it may be the result that inspires them to trophy winning glory.

Striker Ian Moore may want to have a new car after having his nicked and stripped by thieves last month.

If Burnley players keep getting injured as they have done in the past couple of weeks, physio Ian Liversedge may need a bulk order of masking tape so he can stick them together and send them back into the fray.

And it is a safe bet that all of the players and the coaching staff will have mentioned a certain autobiography somewhere in their letter to the big man in Lapland, so beware a giant sack of "Stan the Man" dropping down the chimney at Turf Moor.