Leeds had plenty of possession throughout the game at Turf Moor, but some poor finishing meant that an early goal was enough for Burnley to win the game.

Steve Evans made three changes for this televised game. Thankfully Bellucsi was dropped after his recent howlers as Steve Evans though that his head “wasn’t quite right” at the moment (is it ever?). So Bamba came in, and the other changes saw Silvestri coming back from his one game ban and the injured Bridcutt replaced by Diagouara.

Fewer Leeds fans made the trip than in previous years, 2,188 according to the official site, which is understandable after our disappointing season has left us with little to play for at this stage. And they must have been wondering why they’d bothered when Burnley took the lead in the first minute.

There seemed to be little danger as the ball came through to Arfield outside the box on the Burnley left, but even though the shot came from his weaker left foot, Beradi failed to block it and Silvestri was slow to react as it sneaked past him into the corner of the net. Certainly a soft goal to concede, and as the game progresses Burnley continued to pass their way through our defence with a bit too much ease.

After a quarter of an hour the hosts almost doubled their lead with a carbon copy of the goal. From almost the same spot it was Boyd’s turn to fire a shot through Beradi’s legs, but this time it went just wide of the far post. At this stage we wondered if we might suffer the same humiliation as we had away to the other promotion contenders Middlesbrough and Brighton.

But after that Leeds got back into the game, and began to enjoy a lot of possession in Burnley’s half of the field, though without carrying much of a threat in front of goal. We forced half a dozen corners, and Bamba hit a decent half-volley from the first of them, but Heaton was able to scramble it clear.

There were a couple of woeful long range shots from Beradi and Murphy, and Wood sent a header over the bar from six yards out. Wood also had our best chance of the half when he was played in by an excellent ball from Dallas on the right, but he needed to control it with his first touch, and that was too much for him to manage.

The game continued in a similar vein after the break, and there seemed to be a growing feeling of tension around the ground, with Burnley in danger of dropping points at a vital stage of the promotion race. Steve Evans might have sensed the opportunity to get something from the game, as his first change was to move to a 4-4-2 and send Antenucci on in place of Carayol.

But Wood was still lacking a bit of sharpness and missed another great chance after Taylor’s excellent cross found him unmarked beyond the far post but he could only send it wide. At the other end Burnley were still managing the occasional dangerous break, and Cooper had to be alert to clear a ball that Gray sent across the face of goal.

As we moved into the last ten minutes Evans sent Adeyemi and Mowatt on for Dallas and Diagouara, so we were finishing the game with no width, just when we might have needed to stretch their defence. On 90 minutes it was Burnley’s turn to have a shocking miss, when Barnes put the ball wide of an open goal after Taylor’s cut-back had left Silvestri stranded.

That should have made the game safe for the hosts, but in the end it didn’t matter. There had been a number of stoppages, which meant that five minutes of injury time were to be played, but although we forced yet another corner we didn’t make it count and that was that.

It’s all very frustrating, as we really should have got at least a point from this game, but at least we can take heart from another good away performance. Will our £3 million signing recover his touch in front of goal when he’s back to full fitness? We can but live in hope.

Photo: Action Images

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