Burnley legend Leighton James says the club's problems are down to Owen Coyle, now in charge of Bolton Wanderers.

James has leapt to Brian Laws' defence, insisting the finger of blame for the Clarets' relegation plight should only be pointed at one man: Owen Coyle.

He told the Lancashire Telegraph: "I think the football club has been badly let down by Owen Coyle, long before he left.

"He had all last summer to look at what he had and what he possibly could get, but for all that Owen Coyle took us up, he didn't do anything to strengthen the side to make sure that we stayed up and I've been fearing for them all season.

"The rot set in right at the start.

"Defensively we haven't been good enough and we've given away amateurish goals all season.

"That's been the root cause of our big problems.

"This was a team capable of beating Manchester United and Everton at the start of the season at home, but both missed penalties against us so I didn't get carried away by the odd result. If they'd have gone in we'd have been worse off than we are now, while away from home we've been decimated by the opposition week in, week out.

"The away form tells a million stories about the mess Owen Coyle left Brian Laws in."