WE’RE not even ten games into the Championship season and already things are getting quite tight in there.

After the weekend fixtures — and ahead of tonight’s game at Derby County — Burnley sit just three points off second and only three points off Nottingham Forest in 11th position.

Fine margins as Clarets boss Sean Dyche might say.

We notched up another win in midweek against an MK Dons side who are really struggling with life in the Championship after stepping up from League One.

We probably made harder work of it than we needed to do but on the whole I felt we showed signs of things starting to click, especially in that second half.

I had a couple of quid on an Andre Gray hat-trick so you can imagine how frustrating a night I had as he was denied any goals, despite creating a number of chances.

Dyche says he likes his striker being in there to miss chances and I have to agree.

I thought Andre’s all-round performance was superb and he could have had a hat-trick before the half-time whistle.

In the end we had to settle for an assist — a superbly weighted cross, which George Boyd volleyed brilliantly to give us the decisive winning goal.

The first goal, a long-range drive from Sam Vokes, was another to behold and once that had gone in, I fully expected us to go on and grab the three points.

We were made to sweat a little, especially when the visitors grabbed one before half time and then put us under a little pressure in injury time at the end of the game.

But the win gave us our fourth victory on the bounce and that’s not a bad place to be, especially given that we’re still getting ourselves going this term.

Tonight’s trip to Derby will prove a big test and should give us a marker of where we’re at and where we need to be.

The Rams haven’t enjoyed the best start to the season but I still think they’ll be there or thereabouts come the end of the season.

It’ll also mean a reunion with former skipper Jason Shackell and I’m hoping that we can give him hell and show him what he’s missing.