THERE has been one main talking point at Turf Moor this week, the subject of the leaky defence.

No one who has watched the Clarets regularly throughout the season has yet been able to explain why there has been this tendency to "throw one in" from time to time, as manager Stan Ternent is fond of saying.

So in those rare peaceful moments when the phone has not been ringing I found myself looking through the programme from Saturday's game and checking out the variety of central defensive partnerships that the club has used.

Although there have been only 29 league games this season, the Clarets have already had seven different permutations of the five central defenders, Ian Cox, Steve Davis, Arthur Gnohere, Mark McGregor and new addition Drissa Diallo.

Gnohere has actually been involved in five of those seven and his partnership with Cox has been the most common, playing together on 11 different occasions.

He was also playing alongside Cox on the one occasion when Ternent started a match with three at the back, when Mark McGregor joined them in the 2-1 win at Derby.

But while it is inevitable that people will look too closely at the defence, it is fair to say that much of the problems could be linked to the lack of a ball winner in midfield.

Skipper Davis continues to be missed for both his ability and his leadership but it is surely no coincidence that the goals against record looked better when he was breaking things up in the middle of the park.

The plaintive cry of kids playing in their streets and gardens for many years has been "We want our ball back."

Who would have thought that would be the call from Clarets fans almost a year after Kevin Ball left Turf Moor?

Burnley's central defence (League only)

Cox, McGregor and Gnohere - 1 game 1 goal conceded - average 1

Gnohere and Davis - 4 games 7 goals - average 1.75

Cox and McGregor - 3 games 4 goals - average 1.33

Gnohere and Cox - 11 games 18 goals - average 1.63

Gnohere and McGregor - 5 games 12 goals - average 2.4

Cox and Davis - 2 games 6 goals - average 3

Gnohere and Diallo - 3 games 7 goals - average 2.33