BURNLEY'S injury-hit squad responded in the right way to the current crisis by producing a determined display to defeat Wolves at Turf Moor yesterday - and manager Stan Ternent was delighted.

"We played extremely well and battled hard in a tough match," he said. "In the second half we came under a lot of pressure but overall we deserved to win the match."

The 2-1 victory, courtesy of first half goals from Gareth Taylor and Dean West, ensured that the Clarets will go into tomorrow's match at Brighton with a place in the top six still a very real target given the congested nature of life in the first division.

Ternent's team is 13th but just seven points away from fourth place and ten behind Sheffield United in third, who are the opponents on New Year's Day.

"We were down to 15 players against Wolves and had to have young Mark Rasmussen and Matty O'Neill on the bench," he explained. "They did not come on but they will have been helped by the experience.

"Graham Branch has a bit of a hamstring problem and was not quite ready for today and Lee Briscoe may be okay for Brighton, we will have to wait and see."

For a brief moment it looked as if he might have another major concern when Marlon Beresford was caught late on, and he admitted: "I was a bit concerned because he was caught by a late challenge.

"George Ndah tried to block him and he has got a bit of a sore knee but he will be okay

But Ternent could not have been happier with the way his side responded to conceding ten goals in two games against Rotherham and Gillingham as he insisted: "Those other matches are history.

"We played very well, especially in the first half, and I don't think they actually managed many shots on target."

The target now is to build on the impressive defeat of a play-off rival when they go to the Withdean Stadium for the first ever time tomorrow afternoon.

The players left Burnley today to prepare for the game and once again it will be a case of Ternent finding out who is fit for the fray.

But he does know that if his side shows the same passion and desire that they did on Boxing Day, there is no reason why they won't be able to avenge another early season defeat.

Wolves beat Burnley 3-0 on the second weekend after Brighton had won 3-1 at Turf Moor on the opening day.

Now Ternent will be hoping to inflict a defeat on his close friend and former colleague Steve Coppell, although the Seagulls also celebrated victory yesterday, a shock win at Norwich.