IT is a wonder that some Clarets fans managed to see any of the thrilling 3-1 win at Sheffield Wednesday.

Any student of the club's history, and certainly anyone over the age of about 45, will have come over all dewy eyed shortly before kick-off at Hillsborough when the draw for the Worthington Cup was made.

That is because there is no club in the country with more links to Burnley's glory days than Tottenham Hotspur and so it is little wonder that Sky TV has chosen to screen the tie live next month.

It is inevitable that the tie will evoke strong memories of the great clashes between the two sides that were the dominant force in football four decades ago.

In 1962 the two sides met at Wembley in the FA Cup Final but that is only part of the story. Battles for the championship, thrilling matches home and away, the Clarets and the Spurs were very much the best of British. Robson, McIlroy and Pointer coming up against Mackay, Blanchflower and Smith, these were the great names in the great games of the early 60s.

Football is a sport that lends itself to nostalgia and in the coming weeks no one will begrudge the fans at Turf Moor the chance to wallow in the luxury of past glories.

It is all a fantastic and thrilling prospect, not least because if the draw had not been kind a trip to Gillingham, Wimbledon or Crystal Palace could have been on the agenda.

But at the end of the day this third round tie has to be much more than a reminder of the years gone by.

The match with Glenn Hoddle's men has to be used as a launch pad for better days in the years to come.

It has already started to do that by bringing in £100,000 from Sky after being selected as a live game.

In these times of scrimping and saving that sum is an absolute godsend and illustrates how important it was that they beat Huddersfield Town in the previous round last week.

Dimitri Papadopoulos certainly paid off a chunk of his £500,000 transfer fee with the winner that night while Marlon Beresford's heroics in goal did more than enough to earn him the long-term deal he is seeking, with talks continuing today.

Having got the live coverage, the hope must be for a full house to create the kind of atmosphere that might see the Clarets reach the dizzy heights of the last 16.

After 20 years of Football League Cup famine, what a feast that would be.

Of course there is a lot of football to be played before the visit of Spurs to Turf Moor.

Clarets boss Stan Ternent will not allow his players to start thinking about the match until the previous fixture has been completed, the small matter of a Lancashire derby at Deepdale.

But before then thoughts will be directed no further than Saturday's game with Walsall at Turf Moor when the Burnley boss will be forced to patch up his depleted squad in the hope of making it ten games unbeaten on the trot.

And all of those players currently on the injured list will be desperate to be fit for selection four weeks tonight!