NORWICH City manager Nigel Worthington plans to bring a halt to the Clarets flying start to the season and then shake hands with Stan Ternent and say "thank you".

Worthington insists he owes the Burnley boss a great deal for the time and trouble he took to help him in his first managerial job at Blackpool.

"Stan was very good to me and, knowing the man, I am not at all surprised to see them doing so well," said the former Northern Ireland international.

"When I started out he offered me no end of help and advice and you never forget people like that.

"As a young manager you rely on speaking to people who have a lot of experience and in that respect Stan was outstanding."

Worthington had more than two years in the Bloomfield Road hot-seat and he believes he is now benefiting from his experiences there although he confessed: "I am still learning. The Blackpool job was a great first one for me and now I am really enjoying myself down here."

That is hardly surprising as the Canaries are currently in second place, five points behind the Clarets despite a nightmare start to the season.

"We had enjoyed a really good pre-season and went to Millwall quietly confident but we let ourselves down in a big way there," he explained.

"There was no energy, no fight and the game was a major disappointment. We had to go out and show people what we can do."

That has been achieved with a run of five wins and a draw, including a 100 per cent home record that was extended with a 3-1 defeat of Watford in midweek.

"Like Burnley we are flying high at the moment and it promises to be a great game on Saturday," he said. "They are the team that is setting the pace and we know it will be very difficult for us.

"But we are all looking forward to being involved in a genuine top of the table clash. There is a similarity between the two sides as they have a mix of experience and youth. We just hope we can stop their flood of goals."

Ternent is not surprised that the 39-year-old is doing so well at Norwich having taken over from Bryan Hamilton in January with the club in the lower half of the table.

"Nigel is doing a good job," he said. "I got on very well with him when he was at Blackpool and he has a good chance at Norwich. They've got good solid support because they are not going to go to Ipswich to watch football as they are deadly rivals. They have also got a nice ground and a bit of money.

"One thing I do expect is that it will be a good game of football. This is the biggest game of the weekend in the Nationwide League, second playing first.

"But no one has to tell us that there is a long way to go. There are still 38 games to play with 114 points at stake and at the moment all we can say is that we have had a good start."

Before a ball was kicked this season the bookies would have given very long odds on tomorrow's match being between the top two in the table but that does not worry either manager.

All that Worthington and Ternent want to do is see their teams continue to prove the pundits wrong - and then catch up with an old mate.