Burnley boss ponders huge threat to promotion as Clarets overtake Sheffield United

The race for automatic promotion from the Championship saw the top two change again on Tuesday night as Burnley overook Sheffield United to move into second place, thanks to a slender 1-0 win over Oxford United.

Impressively, another clean sheet for the Clarets means they have now gone an incredible nine games without conceding a league goal and have let in just nine all season in the Championship.

However, it’s at the other end of the pitch that remains a concern for Scott Parker’s side as they were guilty of missing a number of gilt-edged opportunities to put the game to bed.

Scoring goals is a major issue and the arrival of some attacking talent in the January transfer window could fix the problem eventually, but as things stand Burnley supporters are well aware of how important it is that they stop relying on that superb backline to help their side pick up points.

Clarets fans ironically chanted ‘We’ve scored a goal!’ and even then, that has been attributed to Oxford’s Michal Helik who put the ball into his own net.

Four 0-0 draws at home had preceded this latest match at Turf Moor and they were coming off the back of another away to Portsmouth at the weekend.

Now, Parker admits that Burnley’s woes in front of goal could be all in the heads of his attacking players.

“Maybe it’s a psychological element a little bit because of the general noise around it, human nature is sometimes maybe that noise gravitates a bit and snowballs, that maybe could be the case,” Parker said after Tuesday’s win.

“We missed some good chances, that’s clear. I’m more pleased we had those big chances, in the right positions, that conviction about us, not hiding, putting yourself on offer to miss that chance is key for me as a coach. We did that, and we didn’t execute.”

Leeds United remain top of the Championship and Burnley are now ahead of the Blades but only on goal difference with Parker’s men having played a game more than United. The Blades welcome Pompey to Bramall Lane on Saturday, while the Clarets don’t play again until Wednesday when they are again at home to Hull on a night United host Middlesbrough.

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