Burnley captain sets 'shock' Bramall Lane precedent with Sheffield United promotion chase on
Burnley can close the gap on second-placed Sheffield United this evening.
Josh Brownhill harked back to a thumping defeat at Bramall Lane over two years ago in search of positives as his Burnley side look to bounce back from FA Cup defeat to chase down Sheffield United in the league.
Burnley are now five points short of the second-placed Blades, who came out weekend winners following their 3-1 victory at QPR, which came a few hours after Leeds dropped points at home to West Brom. Burnley weren’t in league action due to their cup commitments, but a dismal 3-0 defeat at Preston North End offered little escape from the rigours of a promotion push.
Having gone nearly four months without defeat and nine games without even conceding a goal, Saturday’s loss has brought Burnley back down to earth with a bump, but skipper Brownhill is no stranger to such reality checks. He was part of a Burnley side who arrived at Bramall Lane off the back of a 17-game unbeaten run in November 2022 before losing 5-2.
Burnley’s Bramall Lane bump
Oli McBurnie’s brace plus goals from Iliman Ndiaye, Jack Robinson and Anel Ahmedhodzic killed Burnley’s momentum dead in the water, sending out a huge message in the process. But Brownhill’s Clarets then went on to win their next 10 in the league and did not taste defeat for another five-and-a-half months.
“It’s going to be huge,” Brownhill told the Burnley Express when asked about the importance of bouncing back. “It’s like a couple of years ago when we played Sheffield United away, because it was a bit of a shock for everybody.
“We came out fighting after that and went on a massive, massive run. Hopefully this is one of those days that provides a bit of a reality check, because we can’t perform like that ever again. It’s a good thing there’s a game [against Cardiff City] on Tuesday to put things right.
“There’s still so much to play for, so we can’t get too down about it. We take accountability for this game and we all know we weren’t at the races, but there’s a chance to put things right on Tuesday and continue our good form in the league. It can’t come quick enough to be honest, I wish it was on Sunday to put things right, but we’ll go again in training and hopefully on Tuesday we can make it right.”
Burnley and United fixtures
Burnley have an excellent opportunity to bounce back at struggling Cardiff this evening, with victory pulling them back to within two points of United, who in turn are three points off league leaders Leeds. With Daniel Farke’s side not due at Portsmouth until Sunday, however, both sides can close the gap even further and the Blades could go level on points if they win at home to Preston.
Doing so will heap massive pressure on Leeds, who looked clear of the pack following consecutive comeback wins over Sunderland and United, but the Championship promotion race is never so simple. Chris Wilder’s side do still have automatic promotion in their own hands, however, with a couple of pivotal games on the horizon.
United head across the Steel City to Hillsborough in less than a fortnight knowing rivals Sheffield Wednesday would love to put a dent in their top-two chances. Focus, at least outside the squad, will then turn to April 21 and a potentially decisive trip to Turf Moor which comes as the third-last game of the season.