He may be far too diplomatic to say it, but there can be little doubt that Burnley manager Owen Coyle will have long since have circled this Saturday's fixture with West Ham United on his calendar and be hoping - no, expecting - three points from it.The Clarets visit Upton Park on the back of a fine 3-3 draw with Manchester City and last Saturday's equally impressive draw with Aston Villa.
So if his side - who look anything but the relegation fodder that most fans believed they would be - can draw against two clubs with Champions League ambitions, then why should they not believe they can win against a West Ham side who have so far failed to ignite this term?
The consensus among fans and pundits alike is that West Ham have too much quality in their squad to be relegation contenders come the business end of the season but, unfortunately for Gianfranco Zola, that message did not get through to his squad and the Premier League table does not lie. Nor does the statistic that states they have won just one home game all season.
Zola's team are only one place above the relegation zone with a paltry 11 points from the 13 fixtures they have played so far this term.
They have the third worse defence on their own soil as well having conceded 12 goals at Upton Park so if they really do have too much quality to get relegated then Zola's men are hiding that quality particularly well at present.
However, the one plus point for West Ham is that Burnley have hardly been sensational on the road this season. In fact their season has so far been positively schizophrenic. Their form at Turf Moor has been sensational with six wins from seven but away from home, the draw gained at City remains their solitary point.
But that woeful away record has to improve at some point. And that improvement could well come on Saturday.
Coyle said: "I have to say I am optimisitic about every game we play because I am positive about the group of players I have got. But West Ham are a good side and they have some fine attacking players and we will have to work our socks off.
"I personally believe West Ham are a much better side than their league position suggests. Our last away game was at Manchester City which was not a bad performance or a bad point and we want that to continue."
