Football News

Burnley face Wolves at Turf Moor this weekend in what can genuinely claim to be a relegation six-pointer.

The Clarets hit back to draw 1-1 with Stoke City on Wednesday but that result did not enable them to move out of the bottom three, although they did draw level with Wolves on 24 although they have a worse goal difference than Mick McCarthy's side.

Twenty-three of those points have come on home soil, but recent performances at Turf Moor under Brian Laws have been poor with the loss to rock-bottom Portsmouth being particularly damaging.

They have won only one of their last eight home league matches in sharp contrast to the start of the campaign when they secured four successive three-point hauls - against Manchester United, Everton, Sunderland and Birmingham City.

Meanwhile, McCarthy believes 12 more points will guarantee survival for his Wolves team in the Premier League this season, although they remain one of the 188BET favourites to go down.

Although only four of his club's remaining ten games are at home, McCarthy will have definitely earmarked the need to return to Molineux with something to show from a meeting with another of the league's struggling sides.

Last weekend's gutsy 1-0 defeat to Manchester United earned Wolves plenty of praise but no points and they are only above the relegation zone on goal difference.

Three successive defeats since a 1-0 win at home to Tottenham at the beginning of February have led to suggestions that the Black Country side are going off the boil at precisely the wrong time.

Goals continue to be a major problem for McCarthy as Kevin Doyle remains their runaway top scorer with just six to his name all season.

The likes of Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Sam Vokes must step up and support the Republic of Ireland striker if Wolves are to avoid making an immediate return to the Championship.

Nenad Milijas and Doyle were on the scoresheet in a 2-0 win against the Clarets at Molineux in December, one of only four times they have scored more than one goal in a Premier League game all season.