NIK Michopoulos is the keeper to help guide the Clarets to promotion according to the man he replaced in goal, Paul Crichton.

Crichton left Turf Moor in the summer after losing his place to the Greek stopper and tomorrow he will be on the Norwich City bench for the top of the table clash at Carrow Road.

"Niko has done brilliantly since he came in," said Crichton. "He is just a very good keeper and is doing ever so well."

It is exactly one year ago this weekend that Michopolous made his debut in the Clarets 1-0 win at Huddersfield, taking over from Crichton who had played 85 consecutive games. And with the Clarets five points clear at the top it promises to be a happy anniversary.

Michopoulos has been an ever present ever since and the lack of first team opportunities persuaded Crichton it was time to move on.

But he insisted that there were absolutely no hard feelings and he said: "I had the best time of my career at Burnley and it is always the first score I look for.

"It dates back to the first three or four months I was first there and we got out of trouble. Then next season we got promotion, I played every game and we had all those clean sheets. They were great days."

That affection for the Clarets is on hold for 90 minutes tomorrow as he has been busy helping to plot the downfall of the first division pace-setters.

"I have spoken to our gaffer (Nigel Worthington) about things and I for one am not surprised at how well Burnley are doing," said the 32-year-old Yorkshirman.

"People seem to forget that we finished seventh in the table last season and that was despite haing a shocking time around Christmas. They are well respected in the league and the gaffer (Stan Ternent) has done a brilliant job.

"He's brought in a few players and they are flying at the moment."

The one surprise to Crichton has been the transformation of winger Glen Little into a scorer of great goals.

"When he used to be up against me in training he could not hit a barn door from two yards," he joked. "Finding the net was always the worst part of his game.

"I have not seen his goals against Birmingham yet but I believe he curled in a couple of beauties. I just hope him and the rest of the team are misfiring tomorrow."

Knowing both sides, Crichton is predicting a great game of football and he is warning Burnley that the Canaries are on song at the moment.

"The manager has come in and in the summer he brought in six or seven new faces and now he has got the type of squad he wants," explained Crichton. "The team is flying and it is great to be part of it.

"The only disappointment is that I am on the bench again. I missed a bit of pre-season because of the birth of my child and Robert Green has done very well in goal.

"But, like Burnley, this is a club with good support and we are getting 18-19,000 every week. Both are clubs with potential and they can both make it to the Premiership. After all, it is not long ago that Norwich was playing against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Cup.

"Ideally for me they will both go up, with Norwich as champions of course!"

Crichton has been busy on the phone this week, talking to his former team mates who all remain friends.

But he has not yet spoken to Ternent and admitted: "I think I will leave that till after the game when I will buy him a beer."

It just remains to be seen whether Ternent will be toasting another success or, for only the second time in the league this season, drowning his sorrows.