Burnley manager Scott Parker paid tribute to his record-breaking defence – and an exciting new forward – after a resounding 4-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday.
The Championship promotion hopefuls continue to defend at a phenomenal rate after a 12th successive clean sheet.
Equally encouraging for a team that has found goals hard to come by was a goal for Marcus Edwards, signed on loan from Sporting Lisbon last month, on his first start.
Edwards, who was in Tottenham’s academy while Parker was a player there, scored the opener.
“Full credit to everyone at the club, for us to be able to get a player like Marcus,” said Parker, who watched the game from the stands while serving a touchline ban.
“I understand his quality. The first time I experienced that was as a 13-year-old at Tottenham and now he’s a Champions League player and he showed his quality throughout.
“Even in the first half, when Marcus was on the periphery, he gives you something that gets you out of your seat and the first goal showed that. We’re delighted to have him and hopefully that continues.”
Burnley have now conceded just nine goals in their 34 games, an average of 0.26 per game.
The clean sheet made it 18 hours and 10 minutes since Burnley last conceded, against Watford on December 21.
A total of 25 clean sheets all season also matched the Championship record, set by QPR in 2010-11, and pulled Burnley to within five of the EFL all-time clean sheet record of 30, by Port Vale in 1953-54.
“I suppose in certain moments, it surprises me, really,” said Parker. “If there’s one thing that stands out in my head tonight, it is not just the four goals that we scored, it was Maxime Esteve blocking a shot on the goal line and celebrating like he had scored a goal.
“There are habits and there are traits in this team and there are badges on our chest at this moment, and they’re saying that we’re immensely proud of it.
“And not just the backline or not just the keeper. As a group, everyone is defending, just every single one of this group.”
With second-half goals from Josh Brownhill, Connor Roberts and Manuel Benson, Wednesday manager Danny Rohl bemoaned his team’s poor play in both penalty areas. That undid a strong start to the game which saw the visitors create three clear chances in the opening 19 minutes.
“I’ve watched a lot of their games and I can’t remember a team creating so many opportunities against them,” said Rohl. “In the end, it’s 4-0 and people who didn’t see the match will think there is a big difference between the teams but in the end, it was a big difference in both boxes.
“This is the reason why Burnley fight for promotion and we fight to achieve 50 points at the moment.
“I see the identity of how we want to play, everybody saw it in the stadium and when the home crowd start to be a little bit nervous, it is always a good feeling for you.
“We can drop (down the table) or we can come closer but my big wish, my big demand, is I want to win a big game this season and next Friday we have a chance at home, under the lights at Hillsborough, against a strong Sunderland side.”
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