THE league table looks so good now due to six points from top six contenders Nottingham Forest and Derby County.

We’ve seen two big promotion rivals off, and with 13 games left to play and the next one against our neighbours Blackburn Rovers I can’t help myself thinking ‘this is the big one!’.

Well, it is almost 35 years since we last beat them.

But I remember in my playing days Rovers beating us only once, and that was at Turf Moor on a lovely sunny afternoon.

They had switched defender Mike England to centre forward and he frightened the life out our centre half John Talbut and we went down 4-1.

We went to Ewood for the return game on New Year’s Day and redressed the balance and I got a goal in a 2-0 win. It was one of the best New Year’s Days I’ve had!

But that was a long time ago, and it’s about time we got the victory everyone involved with Burnley wants this weekend.

I hope the Clarets fans can go there without any trouble because to me it’s one of the biggest derby matches in the Football League – right up there with United and City, Liverpool and Everton.

You can understand the police putting safety first and making fans getting bussed to and from the ground, but I would love to see it like it was in the 60s, when supporters from both clubs mixed together on the terraces, and it made for a great atmosphere.

The other Derby game had a bit of everything, including a controversial dismissal.

Sam Vokes and Danny Ings didn’t get on the scoresheet but we proved we don’t have to rely on their goals.

Danny looked a bit disappoionted when he came off, but he shouldn’t be.

That’s four games without a goal now – but you’d hardly call it a drought.

If he needs a confidence boost I hope he gets it on international duty with the England Under 21s.

His scoring exploits already have put us in a great position to get back into the Premier League, but Sunday would be a good time to get back among the goals.