WHAT an odd week to be a Burnley fan. Actually, scrap that. What an odd season to be a Burnley fan.

I was sent a very amusing post on Twitter last week, with a mock-up of a SIN Wave highlighting the constant flip between worrying about relegation and pushing for Europe.

The truth is that the entire league this year has been turned on its head and with just 12 points between 18th and eighth, literally anything could happen.

The ridiculousness of the season peaked with the news that Manchester City had been banned from playing European football for two seasons, meaning that a Champions League place would go to fifth place and a Europa League place to eighth place.

Burnley's stunning win over Southampton at the weekend, putting our boys up to 11th place in the league and level on points with Arsenal, suddenly raised the bar for the final 12 games,

Could Burnley really spend the business end of the season fighting for a place in the Champions League? Surely not.

It's all very tongue-in-cheek of course, and I am not sure even the most optimistic of Burnley fan would expect us to finish above Spurs/Chelsea, Sheff Utd, Manchester Utd, Wolves, Everton and Arsenal to take that fifth place.

But isn't it just lovely to be talking about Europe again and not a relegation battle?

Which, after that performance against Villa, I was expecting us to be.

The truth is that eighth is actually a very realistic target for us and we could well be jetting off on another European tour next year.

That might give Sean Dyche a few palpitations, but the fans would love it.

Irrespective of the prize of European football, the reality of this weekend's fixture is that no one expected this eight weeks ago.

At the time, both Dyche and Eddie Howe were on the wrong end of the headlines and the only tables they were topping were the 'next manager to get the sack' odds.

Since then, Dyche has picked his boys up with both arms and literally catapulted them up the table, whilst Howe reams perilously close to the drop zone, seemingly unable to find inspiration for that spark they need.

This weekend should therefore pose little threat to the Clarets, as they edge ever closer to that 40 point mark.

I am also excited to see what Matej and Jay can do up-front together; Jay's flourishing relationship with Chris Wood will horrify Ashley Barnes and in camp Vydra, life is genuinely sweet.

Haven't we all had that joyous knee slide across the St Mary's turf on loop this week?

His little smile will stay with me for a long time.