'FOOTBALL is not a matter of life or death. It's far more important than that'.

The famous mantra of former Liverpool manager Bill Shankly, which rings pretty hollow when you consider the underlying circumstances of last night's Turf Moor defeat.

Burnley players and staff were happy to interrupt their final preparations for the Wolves game to attend the funeral of a tragic young fan who lost his battle for life.

And that perfectly puts into context the relative disappointment of losing three measly points in the Championship rat race.

Naturally, for those healthy enough to sit in the stands and moan and groan their way through only a third home defeat in 10 games this was their raison d'etre, knowing nothing of the gauntlet of emotions inside the Clarets camp.

But that aside, no-one could argue that everyone did not stretch nerve and sinew to give fans what they wanted, and more importantly to give one little boy a fitting final tribute.

Alas, it was not to be.

The sullen face of manager Steve Cotterill said it all as he summed up the real frustration of the defeat.

He said: "We all went to a funeral on Monday for a young boy called Tom Smith and we wanted to dedicate the win to him, so we are pretty sick we haven't.

"Everyone took a little bit of a reality check the other day and sometimes you can forget football and realise what else is out there in life. We got quite fond of the young man and it was quite sad on Monday.

"We were absolutely desperate to beat Wolves so that we could dedicate it to him and his family, but we'll just have to wait a little bit longer, bless him."

Perhaps fate conspired against Burnley from the start. After all, bogey side Wolves have left Turf Moor empty handed only twice since the glory years of the early 1960s.

Victory would also have meant a rare league double over Wanderers - something not achieved for almost half a century.

So when veteran midfielder Paul Ince belied his 38 years to fire Glenn Hoddle's side ahead in only the 15th minute, the chips were stacked heavily against the hard-working hosts.

And when two decent appeals for Burnley penalties - one in each half - also went the way of the visitors, even referee Clive Oliver was proving unsympathetic to the Clarets cause.

Ultimately, those two controversial decisions may have offered Burnley their best way of getting back into the game, as Wolves defended stoically after surviving a shaky start.

For when Joleon Lescott wrapped a foot around Gifton Noel-Williams, leaving both long-legged players resembling a Twister tag-team, the shout for a spot kick was more than a reasonable one.

Lescott's second half escape was arguably even more controverisal as arm clearly made contact with ball inside his own penalty area.

However, the official was again unmoved and fans began to fear the worst.

It had all started well for the Clarets, with Wolves suffering a blow before kick-off when emergency left back Mark Kennedy, who had been named in the starting line-up, failed an 11th hour fitness test on a tight hamstring and was replaced by Lee Naylor.

Burnley had their own defensive woes, with Frank Sinclair and Wayne Thomas both missing through suspension. Michael Duff, who has ambitions to play at centre back, duly got his wish, with winger Wade Elliott slotting in effortlessly at right back.

And Burnley carved out their first opening in the 10th minute when James O'Connor forced a routine save from Stefan Postma with an accurate 30-yard drive.

Five minutes later came the first penalty appeal, which was instantly waved away by the well positioned man in the middle.

And within a minute, the mood changed completely as Wolves bounded upfield to score.

Maurice Ross's hanging cross from the right found Carl Cort lurking beyong the far post and the beanpole striker cushioned a header back to Ince on the 18-yard line.

The ex-England skipper made perfect contact to drill the ball low through a ruck of bodies and straight at Brian Jensen. However, the Dane looked back in horror as the ball ricocheted off his glove and into the roof of the net.

Duff came to Jensen's rescue soon after, getting a vital toe to deflect the ball wide when Polish international Tomasz Frankowski looked odds-on to score his first goal for Wanderers.

And the Danish keeper atoned for his earlier part in the goal with a superb one-handed save down to his left after Frankowski slipped in strike partner Cort.

Inbetween those moments of panic, Burnley came as close as they would all night to gaining a deserved equaliser.

First Michael Ricketts was a whisker away from a stunning equaliser that would have surely been a candidate for goal of the season, curling an audacious 30-yarder over the stranded Postma only to see the ball drop inches over the bar.

Then the impressive John Spicer brought a flying save from the Dutchman after being teed-up on the edge of the penalty area.

The second half saw constant Burnley possession and pressure, but precious little in the way of clear-cut chances despite Wolves' dangerous defensive approach.

Lescott somehow survived his hand-ball appeal and Postma grabbed Micah Hyde's weak shot with relative ease.

And Burnley must have feared all their sweat and toil would be in vain when James O'Connor's late shot was deflected across the 18-yard box, but fell agonisingly just beyond the inrushing Noel-Williams.