Burnley 0 Derby County 0

But the popular goalkeeper faces another stretch on the sidelines after tweaking a hamstring.

Bad luck just seems to follow Burnley's experienced stopper.

It was not so long ago that Coyne made his long-awaited return to action after 14 months out with a cruciate knee ligament injury.

After working unbelievably hard during that recovery, the Welsh international deserves a long run without any more setbacks.

But it seems Scrooge dealt a fateful hand in Burnley's final game before Christmas.

Coyne should not face a long spell on the treatment table, but the latest injury problem is a disappointment and he was visibly upset when leaving the field.

"You could see that Danny was disappointed because it sums him up since he's been here," said centre-back Michael Duff.

"He's a great lad. People didn't see the amount of work he put in when he was injured. He worked twice as hard as any of us.

"He had the injury in the first year, then came back and did his cruciate.

"He's finally got back from that and now it's probably more minor twinges and little niggles.

"Hopefully, it's not too bad and he will only be a couple of weeks when he is back fit again.

"Anybody that knows him would say he is probably one of the best players that we've got.

"You do feel sorry for him, but he's a good goalkeeper and he will come back as strong as ever."

Coyne was replaced by Brian Jensen before the 20-minute mark and the twosome combined to earn the Clarets a deserved clean sheet against Derby - in a game of few clear-cut chances.

It proved to be Burnley's first Championship shut out in eight attempts, although Duff feels one should have come much sooner.

Duff added: "In the last three or four games, we've been unlucky.

"We drew last week after conceding two goals - a great strike and a volley from 20 yards out.

"At Coventry, it was a penalty that never was. Even looking on the television a hundred times.

"And the week before at Ipswich, it was one of those freak incidents that might happen once every two or three years.

"We felt a little bit hard done by. We've never felt like we've been hanging on or that the goalkeeper's had to make a bundle of saves. But you earn your luck and we got it."

The Clarets were more than worthy of a point against an in-form Rams side that had won eight of their previous nine matches.

With John McGreal and Frank Sinclair injured, a defensive shuffle saw Steve Foster re-called to right-back and captain Wayne Thomas back in his familiar centre-back slot alongside Duff.

The back four were in commanding form all afternoon, restricting County to long range efforts and keeping a lid on Derby dangermen Steve Howard and Giles Barnes.

Burnley were also limited to just a few good openings in a match dominated by two strong defences.

The best chance of all fell to Gifton Noel-Williams, who it was revealed after the game had survived a bizarre injury when treading on a nail at his home on the morning of the match.

Flying winger Wade Elliott whipped over a superb inch-perfect cross, on a plate for the big striker to bury just five yards out.

But with the goal at his mercy - and an expectant home crowd waiting to celebrate a Christmas cracker - Noel-Williams directed his header straight at Derby goalkeeper Stephen Bywater.

At the opposite end, Coyne was at his brilliant best to twice thwart midfielder Matt Oakley before injury forced him out of the action.

Burnley had the best of the second-half, with Chris McCann poking just wide at the near post and Noel-Williams seeing a decent effort deflected wide.

"We are a tinged disappointed," admitted Burnley boss Steve Cotterill.

"In the second-half, we were probably more likely to score a goal. "I would imagine they would be happier with a draw than us.

"I think we just did enough to win the match. We put an enormous amount of effort into it. I'm not disappointed with the players. Their performance was very good and I was pleased with them."