Nothing is yet settled in what looks like a three‑way fight for automatic promotion at the top of the Championship – Middlesbrough, Burnley and Brighton are on unbeaten runs and it seems to be a question of which side blink first. Yet something surely has to give when first takes on second on Tuesday night at Turf Moor. Burnley could return to the top by beating Middlesbrough, or Aitor Karanka’s players could put five points between themselves and the Lancashire club with three games remaining.
It feels like a game that will be decisive in determining at least one of the promotion positions, which is quite possibly why both clubs are insisting on playing down its potential significance. “Lots of people are getting caught up with the hype but our job is to stay calm,” says Jordan Rhodes, Middlesbrough’s matchwinner at Bolton on Saturday. “There are still 12 points to play for – nothing is going to be decided at Turf Moor.”
Burnley’s manager, Sean Dyche, is being even more of a spoilsport, refusing to acknowledge the season is entering squeaky bum time, despite that particular addition to football’s vocabulary being coined by his all-time hero Sir Alex Ferguson. “I don’t see it like that at all,” he says. “You don’t get any more points for winning games at this stage of the season. The early wins are just as important in terms of putting you in a position to get promoted.
“Obviously the players know what is at stake but I don’t even speak to them about promotion, just the importance of giving ourselves a chance to win the next game. There’s no need to overthink the situation or get ahead of ourselves.
“All I am looking for is clarity and another good performance. It’s really for everyone else to make a noise about what might happen come the end of the season. What we have to do is stick to a common-sense approach and keep doing the things that have brought us this far.”
If Burnley have a slight advantage over their immediate promotion rivals, it is that they have been this way before. Dyche brought the Clarets up in 2014 and, though they went straight down again, the club managed to keep the manager and most of the squad together and they look stronger for the experience. “I would say we were differently equipped now than we were two years ago,” Dyche says.
“As a manager you have to keep remodelling. We’ve lost Danny Ings and Kieran Trippier since the last promotion, for instance, but we’ve brought in some decent players. We didn’t have as much money last time we went up either. It happened quite quickly and it was all done on a more modest budget.
“There’s a bit more investment around the club now – in fact we’re in fantastic shape as a business – and we have needed to be because Middlesbrough have spent quite a bit of money, too. That is not meant as a criticism; I think Boro have spent their money wisely. They are a good side and they have had a really good season.”
Burnley, who will give late fitness tests to Joey Barton and Sam Vokes, have strengthened quite shrewdly as well. Though eyebrows were raised when they doubled their transfer record at the start of the season to bring in Andre Gray for £6m, the former Luton and Brentford striker has 24 goals and has just been named Championship player of the year.
“We are on a good run at the minute but it means nothing until we get over the line,” Gray said on accepting the award. “Middlesbrough at Turf Moor is going to be a massive game – we’d be lying if we said we weren’t watching their results. Any slip now could be massive, too, but it is in our hands. If we do our job, we won’t be caught.”
Gray is one of the few Burnley players yet to experience Premier League football. Dyche might think Middlesbrough have bought themselves a decent side but Karanka has pointed out the Lancashire club have an edge in experience. “They have 10 players who were in the Premier League last year and a striker who cost a lot of money,” the Boro manager says. “It shows we are doing a good job if we are above them in the table.”
Both managers seem to agree that Gray is doing well. “He deserves the recognition because he’s delivered on the pitch for us this season,” Dyche says. “It’s only his second season at this level and he’s still learning but he fitted in straight away and began scoring goals as soon as he got here.”
Burnley are unbeaten in 19 games and, if they can extend that run to the end of the season, they would set a post‑war record at the club. Not that their manager is interested in such details. “I don’t even think about it,” Dyche says. “All I’m bothered about is getting the next game right and, if you can keep on doing that, then records and awards are going to come your way. I know we are playing for high stakes at the moment but for me the addiction is winning games and picking up points.
“What I’m here to do is to try to win as many games as possible, beginning with the next one. This is a really good league, the level is high and it is difficult to be outstanding over the course of a whole season, but in reality no one ever does that. Even Manchester United in their pomp would win scruffy from time to time. They used to get tough games from teams like Wimbledon where they had to work hard to find a way to win. That’s what winners do. They find a way that works.”
