Dan Black’s verdict: Can Jay Rodriguez buck the trend and become the hometown hero against Rovers after Burnley-born villains plague the Clarets

Former Turf Moor season-ticket holder Oli Norwood had a starring role in Sheffield United's win at Bramall Lane.

And Clarets supporting Crawley Town striker Dominic Telford was cast as the scorer of the opening goal in Tuesday night's Carabao Cup tie.

That begs the question; can Jay Rodriguez, if declared fit for the East Lancashire derby, buck the trend and become the hometown hero against Blackburn Rovers on Remembrance Sunday?

The ex-Barden High School pupil watched from the window of his family home as travelling supporters were bussed into Turf Moor at the beginning of the Millennium, as the rivalry recommenced following a 17-and-a-half year break.

But that's as close as the England cap ever got to featuring in one of the country's oldest and most volatile conflicts in football, having missed both under the Owen Coyle/Brian Laws era and signing for Southampton ahead of those meetings during Sean Dyche's reign.

The script writers already have the storyline half-crafted for their protagonist, should the 33-year-old leading scorer shrug off a knock he sustained during the dramatic 3-2 win at home to Rotherham United.

Kompany, as anticipated, gave nothing away. "We will keep our cards very, very tight - especially this week," he responded, when asked about his striker's availability.

The Millers also added an extra twist to the tale midweek, beating the Blades in the Steel City, meaning the final Championship game before the World Cup window could still be a battle between the top two.

Vincent Kompany's men warmed up for their biggest clash of the campaign so far with a fairly straight-forward third round victory over the Reds, though the complexion of the four-time Premier League winner's line-up will bare no resemblance at the weekend.

The West Sussex outfit, who are treading water in the depths of League Two, weathered the storm that had been forecast ahead of kick off, from both a meteorological and metaphorical standpoint.

Kompany saluted his opponents' resolve for keeping the Clarets out for the first quarter, with Reds skipper Joel Lynch blocking from Matt Lowton, Ashley Barnes lifting over the bar from Luke McNally's header, Harry Ransom getting in the way of Johann Berg Gudmundsson's attempt while McNally steered over from the Icelander's corner.

"First of all I want to compliment the opposition, they gave everything and put bodies on the line," said the Belgian coach.

"But did we create enough chances? I think we did. We perhaps should have scored more. Sometimes not scoring is also because of good defending so that all plays a role.

"The game didn't develop in an ideal way, the one chance we conceded was a goal immediately and then you have to work the opposition.

"It was a bit late for the second goal and as soon as it went in it gave us chances and the third goal was well crafted."

The visitors had taken a leaf out of Reading's book when netting a route one opener. The ex-Blackpool forward, who was the fourth tier's top scorer last season, collected goalkeeper Ellery Balcombe's kick, drove into the box, and drilled the ball beyond Bailey Peacock-Farrell.

Their lead, however, last just over a minute, as Charlie Taylor delivered the ball into the penalty area and Barnes looped a header into the corner. It was the striker's first goal since May — when converting a penalty at Villa Park — and only his second in 44 appearances in all competitions.

"It's good, I'm really happy, and it's an Ashley Barnes goal," Kompany said. "I think the type of balls we've put into the box got the type of connections we needed on them. It's a beautiful goal. Striker's need that little spark and hopefully that's the trigger for him.

"We're sharing goals, which is something that I've said from the beginning. We've scored a lot of goals this season, we could've scored more, but they've not just come from a single area of the pitch, so we're depending more on the squad than just the individual. Don't worry, if somebody scores 40 goals, I'll still be clapping."

In-form Manuel Benson was perhaps a surprise starter ahead of Sunday's showdown, but Kompany was rewarded for taking the risk. Nick Tsaroulla, though, probably wasn't as thrilled about seeing the ex-Royal Antwerp winger's name on the team-sheet.

The 25-year-old, who is in the form of his life, ran the full back ragged and almost put the hosts ahead before the break on three occasions. His first attempt, another trademark execution, needed to be turned over by Balcombe after taking an uncompromising nick off Travis Johnson.

He then shaped a second effort from a similar position just wide of the upright and his closing contribution, a shot from outside the penalty area, came back off the woodwork having taken a wicked deflection off Lynch.

"There is risk if you walk across the street and get run over by a car," commented Kompany, when addressing the summer signing's inclusion.

"In my experience in this competition you have to keep a couple of guys who have momentum in the team because you have other players who are looking for momentum.

"I think Benny did exactly what we needed him to do, he took care of his direct opponent, was threatening and brought others into the game. I thought Anass [Zaroury] and Nathan [Tella] had played a lot of games and Benny has played a little bit less football than these guys so it was an opportunity to have him in the team."

The second half was a perfect prelude for what is about to come. The home side dominated possession and territory, Benson continued to enjoy himself, and Anass Zaroury came off the bench to score twice.

The Belgium Under 21 international, signed from Charleroi, tapped home from close range when ghosting in at the back post to get on to Barnes's flick from Benson's cross.

And the substitute's second, in the 90th minute, was a carbon copy of his first, only this time Brazilian ace Vitinho supplied the pass across the face of goal.

Kompany won this competition four times as a player, but he acknowledges that victory against Lewis Young's underdogs carried far more value than a place in the draw for the fourth round.

"It is a competition that I want to give enough to," said Kompany, who lifted the trophy following cup final wins over Swansea City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea.

"For me all these games are significant. If you lose today it gives you a very sour feeling going into a very important game. But I do think it (the changes) is common sense given how hectic the schedule is.

"We want to utilise the squad and we put a lot of time and effort into the players the fans don't see every day and I am happy they get to go and carry the torch for us.

"We depend on another set of players and they showed they are making progress which was good. There wasn't much difference in how we played because we changed players, but we played the same way."