An unbeaten derby decade: Burnley rack up 10 years without defeat against old rivals Blackburn Rovers

For those who lived through nigh-on 35 years in the shadow of that lot down the road, it has been a decade where the tables have turned dramatically.

Sean Dyche has become Rovers' kryptonite - in seven games in charge against Blackburn, he has yet to be beaten.

And after delivering a first win over the Clarets' fierce derby rivals since April 1979, he has gone on to string four-successive victories together, meaning Burnley have now won 42 to Rovers' 41 successes, in 102 competitive meetings.

The wilderness years between 1979 and 2014 saw only 11 meetings - and none at all between 1983 and 2000, as Burnley almost slipped out of existence, while Rovers got on the Premier League gravy train just as it was leaving the station, as Jack Walker's millions put the cat among the pigeons.

However, Dyche has since inflicted Blackburn's worst run without a win in the derby, ending a number of hoodoos.

Since David Dunn's penalty at Turf Moor on March 28th, 2010 proved the only goal, hammering another nail into Burnley's coffin on the way to relegation from the Premier League, the boot has been firmly on the other foot.

Sean Dyche had only been in charge just over a month in December 2012 when it took an injury time equaliser from substitute Sam Vokes to claim the point which was the least the Clarets deserved at Turf Moor, against a side not long since relegated from the top flight.

In the return in March 2013 at Ewood Park, after Ben Mee's dismissal, it took an off-side Dunn strike to snatch a stoppage time leveller, after Jason Shackell had put Burnley ahead.

In September 2013, Junior Stanislas' quite brilliant goal looked set to finally give the Clarets fans what they craved, before Jordan Rhodes' fortuitous effort made it 1-1.

That only delayed the inevitable by six months, as Danny Ings stroked in the winner, as the Clarets came from behind to win at Ewood Park in March 2014, ending years of hurt.

Scott Arfield backed that up in October 2015, with a memorable strike and celebration, as Burnley travelled back up the M65 with a 1-0 win, before Andre Gray's coolly-taken penalty sealed an identical scoreline back at Turf Moor in Marxch 2016, in a first home win against Rovers since December 1978.

And then in August 2017, with Burnley starting a second-successive Premier League campaign, the Clarets cruised past by-then League 1 Rovers 2-0 in the Carabao Cup - a ninth victory in 15 visits to Ewood Park.

The sides were close to being paired in the FA Cup third round this season, with both clubs in the last four remaining balls, but, for the meantime, Burnley's unbeaten run is set to stretch further, with the Clarets 10th in the Premier League before the shutdown, and Rovers a further 20 places adrift in the pyramid, 10th in the Championship, three points behind Preston in the last play-off place.

Tomorrow, we'll look back at an unbeaten derby decade with a series of galleries and match reports - join us at www.burnleyexpress.net