"YOU don't win anything with kids".

That famous quote came back to haunt pundit Alan Hansen after Manchester United's young guns romped to the Premiership title a decade ago.

And while Steve Cotterill may not have either the teenage resources or equivalent talent at his disposal at Turf Moor, there is little doubt the accent is back on youth at Turf Moor.

A flurry of transfer activity before the transfer window slammed shut earlier this week saw 21-year-old Bournemouth attacking midfielder John Spicer and AFC Telford defender Duane Courtney, 20, both join the Clarets.

That took the number of players aged 21 or under in the first team squad to five, including versatile American Danny Karbassiyoon and the emerging talents of youth team duo Chris McCann and Kyle Lafferty.

But when the age barrier rises towards the mid-20s evidence of an even more amazing transformation is taking place when compared to the squad that predecessor Stan Ternent carried into his final game in charge of the Clarets just 16 short months ago.

By the time Ternent bade an emotional farewell against boyhood heroes Sunderland on May 9, 2004, just three Clarets players - Richard Chaplow, Lee Roche and on-loan winger Luke Chadwick - were under 26 in a squad that averaged out at marginally over 28 years of age.

The current squad averages in two years younger at just over 26, but that masks the fact that the growing band of players aged 26 or under now totals a remarkable dozen.

Irish teenagers Lafferty and McCann are the relative babies of the group at 17 and 18 respectively, while Spicer, Courtney and Karbassiyoon, 21, make up the aforementioned trio at the young end of the scale.

But as Cotterill looks to keep his promise and build a squad for the future, seven other players reaching what most claim to be the peak of their powers include Jon Harley, 25, Michael Duff, 27 and stricken 26-year-old defender Wayne Thomas, whose season came to a cruel end earlier this week through injury.

Former Bournemouth duo Wade Elliott and Garreth O'Connor, both 26, and James 'O'Connor, 25, bring extra zip and youthful exuberance to the midfield, while striker Gifton Noel-Williams, 25 completes the squad makeover.

During this new dawn in the restructuring of Burnley Football Club, more security is also provided by the fact that most of the players listed above have been secured on long-term deals.

Indeed, the longest-serving player in the squad, 33-year-old Graham Branch, remains the only senior player out of contract next summer.

And while the six remaining players, Brian Jensen, Danny Coyne, John McGreal, Frank Sinclair, Micah Hyde and Ade Akinbiyi - all firm crowd favourites - are aged 30 or above, who would argue that Cotterill's blend of youth and experience is not a healthy one?