UNLIKE in Dad's Army, you'll won't find a manic Corporal Jones running round Turf Moor shouting: "Don't panic, don't panic!"

Manchester City, Wolves and Millwall may have crept up and overtaken the Clarets at the top of Nationwide Division One, but there is no-one in Claret and Blue tearing their hair out.

Against the odds - and the pundits - Stan Ternent's men have already enjoyed a superb season, and there's plenty still to come.

OK, so you got more excitement overseeing what little there was of the Selhurst Park grass grow than actually watching what was going on on top of it on Saturday.

But games against Wimbledon are hard ones to get out of bed for on a Saturday morning in January, so let's condemn the events of the weekend to the history books rather than dwell on them and be thankful for a point.

Even if it didn't prove enough after Sunday's exploits by City and Wolves, as they say, there's plenty of water to run under the hatching chickens between now and the end of the season.

The poor souls who have to follow Saturday's opponents, Sheffield Wednesday, would gladly swap places. How they once mighty have fallen - and from the likes of Wednesday, the Clarets are learning an important lesson.

The big money that the Owls paid out is still hanging like a millstone around their necks as they've sunk from the Premiership towards the bottom of Division One.

They are still trying to offload players and spare a thought for Terry Yorath as he tries to juggle finances and a team. He may be in the semi-finals of the Worthington Cup but he would probably swap that for three points against the Clarets on Saturday.

The man trying to stop him is a past master at juggling both finances and team and it is a credit to Ternent, chairman Barry Kilby and the board that the Clarets are finding themselves battling for an automatic promotion place without the finances of the big guns.

As Wolves, Man City and Wednesday have found out, money doesn't change everything.

There is still the old adage that a good big 'un will always beat an good little 'un.

But, you just get the feeling that Ternent enjoys being the underdog, going along in his own, determined way.

And, there is still a sneaky suspicion that, come summer, Stan might be sipping a cocktail in the sun with a big smile on his face, while Kevin Keegan or Dave Jones are preparing for the play-offs.