STEVE Cotterill today sounded the rallying call as Burnley look to spring an FA Cup shock by beating Liverpool.

The Clarets boss admits some of the sheen has been taken off tonight's tie by the long delay caused by a frustrating postponement 12 days ago.

Bad weather has again left Turf Moor officials casting anxious glances towards the now notorious Turf Moor pitch, which was covered during last night's snowfall.

But Cotterill insists it will be the performance of his team, and not the partially re-laid pitch, that could be the biggest leveller.

He said: "At the end of the day we would rather not play Liverpool on a muddy pitch because we play better without the mud.

"I was going to say it might depend on the bounce of the ball, but the ball might not bounce!

"We know we have to play well and Liverpool have to have an off day, but if we play well we have a good chance.

"We are full of respect for Liverpool and we will try to do our best. if we do that, we won't have any problems.

"We really looked forward to the game before it was called off and we've had a lot of time to dwell on what happened with the postponement.

"It's almost like it's getting to be an anti-climax now the game has come round again.

"We've not had the same time to prepare, but maybe that's just as well so we will look forward to it again and hopefully the weather will ease up a little so that tonight we are stood watching a game in front of a packed house."

Burnley's are guaranteed their biggest gate of the season - around 20,000 - for tonight's tie, despite Liverpool again fielding a young team minus the likes of Steven Gerrard and Milan Baros.

However, Cotterill watched a strong Liverpool side struggle to overcome Championship outfit Watford in their Carling Cup semi-final first leg last week.

And with fringe players eager to show Reds boss Rafael Benitez what they can do, Cotterill expects a tough test from the Anfield Academy youngsters.

He said: "If they bring a weakened team here, they will get as much

respect as a full team because we can't afford to take Liverpool Football Club lightly and we won't do.

"Watford did ever so well against them last week. I went to the Carling Cup game and they were great, but that was them and this is us.

"Anyone can beat anyone in the Championship on any God given day, so it was great that they did so well last week.

"We know we have given some Premiership sides a good game this season and if we are lucky enough to beat Liverpool, it would be a fantastic achievement.

"But we don't gloat if we win and we will remain humble in our achievements whatever happens."

Burnley are down to the bare bones tonight, with on-loan WBA midfielder James O'Connor ineligible and Michael Duff (calf) and Graham Branch (ankle) unlikely to recover from injuries picked up against Reading at the weekend.

Liverpool are without new signings Fernando Morientes and Mauricio Pellegrino, neither of who were registered in time for the original tie in line with FA rules.