BURNLEY boss Adrian Heath was back at Turf Moor today after a hectic but rewarding flying visit to Spain.

And he managed to watch two full matches, including a clash between Barcelona and Real Madrid second team players.

But bad weather thwarted his hopes of taking in the big Catalan derby between his old club Espanol and Barcelona.

"It was abandoned after eight minutes because of a waterlogged pitch," explained the Turf Moor chief.

"But the trip was a very useful exercise all round and I managed to get to another game as well. It would have been three but for the abandonment.

"I was able to re-establish contacts I made over there when I was playing and talk to a lot of people.

"It was mainly a question of letting people know what we are looking for and checking on different players. Their season is coming to an end too and you could say I have put one or two irons into one or two fires."

There might not be any immediate dividends from Heath's trip but he feels the groundwork he has done could well pay off in future.

And the trip underlines the quality of players he is looking for as he attempts to put Burnley back on an upward path.

Having played abroad himself, he is aware of the standards and he also knows that English clubs have an opportunity to pick up players cheaper than in the domestic market."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.