Burnley

Burnley will look to keep their automatic promotion hopes alive when they welcome Sheffield Wednesday to Turf Moor on Friday night (20:00 GMT).

The Clarets are five points off the top two but could gain ground with Leeds United and Sheffield United playing each other on Monday evening.

The Owls, who have play-off ambitions of their own, are three points off the top six in ninth.

• Burnley are unbeaten across their past seven league games against Sheffield Wednesday (W4 D3), scoring at least one goal in each of those matches.

• Sheffield Wednesday have lost just one of their past nine away league games against Burnley (D4 L4), though that sole defeat did come on their last visit to Turf Moor in September 2015 (3-1).

• Burnley are unbeaten across their past 20 league games (W11 D9), the Clarets' longest run since a 22-match run between November 2022 and April 2023.

• Sheffield Wednesday have won seven of their past 12 away Championship matches (D1 L4). Since the start of October, only city rivals Sheffield United (8) have won more away games in the division than the Owls' seven.

• Burnley have kept 11 consecutive clean sheets in the Championship. In the entire history of the Football League since 1888, only one side has had a longer run in the top four tiers, with Manchester United keeping 14 in a row during the 2008-09 campaign.

Image source, Rex Features

Burnley boss Scott Parker has said he is not worried about the gap between his side and the Championship's top two, insisting it is a "total irrelevance" to him.

An 11th goalless draw of the season against Preston on Saturday, coupled with wins for Sheffield United and Leeds, leaves the Clarets five points behind the second-placed Blades.

"I never jump on a rollercoaster of what this season or league brings and I've got no interest in what our competitors are doing, certainly at this point in the season," Parker said.

"What Leeds or Sheffield United are doing is an absolute irrelevance to me. If we are not going to win enough games to generate enough points, the facts are we are not going to be successful or get to where we want to get to.

"But we can't jump on that rollercoaster of emotion over one weekend looking at what other teams are doing or not doing. Five points, six points - whatever the gap is, it is a total irrelevance to me.

"At the moment we have got one control over one of the teams - the one we are playing. It is about us being as positive and dominant as we can. But we need to keep churning out results and keep winning."

Record-breaking Burnley will have their defensive prowess tested in a Lancashire derby at Preston North End on Saturday (12:30 GMT).

The Clarets became the first team in second tier history to keep 10 straight clean sheets when they overcame Hull City 2-0 on Wednesday and have not conceded a league goal in 910 minutes dating back to 21 December.

Scott Parker's side are third, three points adrift of Sheffield United in the second automatic promotion place while Paul Heckingbottom's Lilywhites lie 15th, though only seven points shy of the play-off places.

These sides will also lock-horns in the FA Cup fifth round in a fortnight's time.

• Preston are winless in their past four league games against Burnley (D2 L2); they haven't endured a longer league run without a win against them since March 1979 (8 games).

• Burnley are unbeaten on each of their past three trips to Preston in the league (W2 D1), after losing six of their prior seven league visits to Deepdale (D1 L6).

• Preston are unbeaten at Deepdale in their previous eight league games (W3 D5); it's their longest run since November 2019 (11 games).

• Burnley have kept eight clean sheets in their last nine away league games, including each of their last five (W6 D3); since the rebrand in 2004-05, only Bournemouth in October 2021 (7) and Stoke in December 2020 (6) have enjoyed a longer run of successive away clean sheets in the Championship.

• Burnley's Zian Flemming has scored five goals in his past six away Championship games, while he's scored six goals in five Championship games against Preston.

Image source, Getty Images

Burnley manager Scott Parker spoke to BBC Radio Lancashire after their 2-0 Championship victory over Hull City.

"I thought we were outstanding tonight. I thought first half, we were really dominant, carved Hull open.

"We moved the ball with real diligence, technical ability and created numerous chances.

"Really pleasing that we got an early goal. Overall, I think it is well-documented on the defensive side, we are rock solid.

"We have done that consistently over the course of this season and again tonight. But for large parts of tonight, we were a real dominant team."

The draw for the FA Cup fifth round has been made. Here is a list of all the ties involving Championship teams left in the competition.

Games will be played over the first weekend of March.

• Aston Villa v Cardiff City

• Crystal Palace v Millwall

• Manchester City v Plymouth

• Preston North End v Burnley

You can find the full draw here.

Burnley will look to make up ground in the battle for automatic promotion against relegation-threatened Hull City on Wednesday (19:45 GMT).

The Clarets knocked out Premier League side Southampton in their 1-0 FA Cup win on the weekend, while their last outing in the Championship served Oxford United boss Gary Rowett his first defeat with the U's.

Hull City, however, lost against Stoke to see themselves hovering just one point above the relegation zone.

• Burnley are unbeaten across their last six league games against Hull City (W2 D4), conceding one or fewer goals in each of those matches.

• Hull City have lost 10 of their last 14 away league games against Burnley (W2 D2), though each of their last two visits to Turf Moor have ended in 1-1 draws.

• Burnley have kept nine consecutive clean sheets in the Championship – only seven teams in Football League history have kept 10 in a row, most recently Torquay United in League Two between April and August 2010. No side in second tier history has ever kept 10 clean sheets in a row.

• Hull have won their last three away league games without conceding, having lost five in a row beforehand. The Tigers have never won four away games in a row while keeping a clean sheet each time in their league history.

• Burnley's 31 Championship games in 2024-25 have seen just 46 goals scored (37 for, 9 against) – at an average of just 1.48 per game, that is the lowest goals-per-game ratio for a team in a season in Football League history.

Burnley's defensive record is unbelievable, but they have got a problem at the other end of the pitch.

They do not score many goals and it appears there is an element of Burnley fans who are quite bored watching Scott Parker's team.

Their situation is the same as Leeds, in that they are one of four teams chasing one of the two automatic promotion spots in the Championship.

Again, they have got a midweek league game coming up, at Hull City on Wednesday, which will be their priority. I think Parker will make changes here and they will fall foul of that.

Southampton will not be complaining, because they have won so few games against anyone this season.

Saints picked up a rare win at Ipswich last weekend, and at home they have managed only three victories in all competitions - Stoke City in the Carabao Cup, Everton in the league and Swansea City in the FA Cup third round.

To say they have momentum after beating Ipswich is probably pushing it, and they are still a long way adrift at the bottom of the table, but a decent FA Cup run would give their fans a bit of escapism in what has been a miserable season.

Sutton's prediction: 1-0

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Image source, Getty Images

Burnley's new signings Marcus Edwards and Jaydon Banel are likely to make their debuts in the FA Cup fourth-round tie at Southampton, according to boss Scott Parker.

The Clarets face the Premier League's bottom side, who are just two places above them in the English football pyramid, at St Mary's on Saturday afternoon.

Edwards, 26, has joined on loan until the end of the season from Portuguese side Sporting, while Banel, 20, signed from Ajax for an undisclosed fee.

"It gives us a chance to freshen things up, the likelihood is we can integrate the new players into this fixture," Parker told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"Give them some minutes [because] the new signings have lacked a bit of game time.

"You've got to give the players coming in an understanding of what is expected of them, added to the fact that players coming in haven't played a lot of football - and that is what a January window brings.

"The last thing I want to do is push them too hard and we lose players, so we need to tread carefully.

"But I want to get them up to speed as quickly as I can because these players have been brought in to help us for the remaining part of the season."

Image source, Rex Features

Burnley keeper James Trafford has been named the Championship player of the month for January.

The 22-year-old did not concede a single goal, keeping six clean sheets and saving two Wilson Isidor penalties in the dying minutes to ensure a point against promotion-rivals Sunderland.

Burnley manager Scott Parker told the EFL website, external: "This is well deserved. James has been incredible all season, not just this month. Since I arrived he has been a top professional and a rock for the team."

Sky Sports' EFL pundit Don Goodman said: "On individual performance, it would be difficult to have a more perfect month than James Trafford.

"Burnley's defensive stability is going to be the key in their bid for promotion, and Trafford is central to that."

Coventry midfielder Jamie Allen, Oxford United defender Ciaron Brown and Sunderland keeper Anthony Patterson were also up for the award.