Burnley take on leaders at the Turf

Just four points separate the two clubs after seven games played in Division One with both having won five times so far.

Dan Pickup’s side usurped defending champions Walsden in second spot following victory over struggling Darwen to crank up the pressure while Norden retained their lead at the top when easing past Church at Woodhouse Lane.

Things are slowly starting to take shape, however, Pickup is still reluctant to make any forecasts for the campaign with just 12 points separating third and eighth place Lowerhouse.

“I still can’t say how the season’s going to go,” said the Burnley captain. “It’s really tough to predict.

“You can usually start to see things taking shape at this point, which gives you an idea where everybody’s at. However, it’s still unpredictable.

“We’re just concentrating on ourselves. We’ve played some decent stuff so far, but there are still a couple of defeats that we’re disappointed with.

“We just want to put a decent run together, which can catapult you up the table. It’s hard to call at the moment.

“Norden have taken a few people by surprise, they’re top so it’s another big game. It would be nice to go back top at this stage, but there’s a long way to go.”

Before all that, though, Burnley will play host to Lowerhouse in their second JWL Bitter Group game in the Twenty20 competition this evening.

Victory for the holders would certainly put them in a strong position of making the knockout phase.

“You always want to win that first one,” said Pickup, after beating Nelson in the opener. “It’s a tough group that we’re in so it’s a tie we felt we needed to win.”